noglider 

@cyccommute is a chemical expert, and he's right that a jar of mineral spirits is the most efficient by many measures.

@robertorolfo, I dump my used mineral spirits on the ground or the road. There might be better places, and I'm open to hearing about them, but it's rarely more than a pint, and I don't do it often at all. We all dispose of crap consciously or not. I even have to think about what's going on when I flush my toilet, since we have a limited-capacity septic system. There's no such thing as being totally clean, only as clean as you can be with reasonable effort. My once-a-year dumping surely has less impact on the environment than driving a car a mile.

robertorolfo

Wow, really? Are we talking about the same stuff? Bright red? I'm fairly certain they only have one version of it.

Perhaps it's because I'm dealing with a larger quantity with my car (that leaks ATF), but something about it really bothers me. It's almost more of a sensation than a particular smell, as it is hard to describe. But maybe it's just me...

When I lived in Italy they had a big advertising campaign on TV about dumping out used automotive fluids in nature, or down drains. More recently, learning that the NYC sewer grates with the little fish icon stamped on them drain directly into the rivers was eye opener.

noglider 

@robertorolfo, if my once-a-year dumping is serious and there is a better alternative, I'm all ears. Also, if it is worse than driving a car a mile, I'd like to know that, too. I'm assuming, and maybe I shouldn't.

repechage

diluting 8 quarts of used motor oil with a pint of solvent for recycling is better than dumping solvent in the wild.

My grandfather would dribble used motor oil at the edge of the lawn adjacent to the sidewalk, 50 years ago... even then, did not like that idea.

garryg

Dumping any petroleum products on the ground to dispose of them is quite frankly unimaginable to me and i just retired from a 30 year stint working for a bulk fuel and heavy oil supplier.

Vintage_Cyclist

Proper household solvent disposal per NYC Dept. of Environmental Conservation:

https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/material...df/solvent.pdf

cyccommute 

We have household hazardous disposal pick up in my city. Most municipalities do. But, frankly, I don’t have that much material for disposal. I clean a chain once before I install it an never have to clean it again. A dozen chains is about 45,000 miles of riding. That’s between 9 and 15 years of riding. I have 8 bikes that I ride at varying levels of mileage so it could be even longer. I’ve got a quart can of mineral spirits that is roughly 20 years old and I’ve only used about half of it which includes using it for other purposes.

noglider 

OK thanks folks. I'll change my practices immediately. I'll find my local disposal place. I'm not in NYC currently, I'm in the hamlet of High Falls, which is in the town Marbletown, NY (Ulster County).

jon c. 

I collect old solvents, paints, batteries, bulbs and whatever else and take it the county hazmat disposal site once or twice a year. And it's on my way into town, so it's quite convenient. Unfortunately, I don't think everyone has such a relatively easy option.

merziac

Agreed, and that would make you acutely aware of all aspects of this discussion.

I have been a mech/tech all my life, lots of work at home, bikes, cars and mc's.

I have a cleaning/changing pan that accumulates a little castoff, muck, etc., solvents and cleaners evaporate off then I wipe out the leftovers and drop the rags off at a shop for recycling. They are really never that dirty and could probably go in the garbage.

J.Higgins 

I found a beat-up aluminum cake pan in the metal bin at the dump, and I use it to set my oily rags outside in the air where they can dry out. If I set it out on the hot pavement of the driveway in the summer, it only takes a short while before anything oily and solvent-filled becomes dry and benign. I'm fortunate to have an outdoor fire pit which I use to burn my oily shop rags if its cold or wet out or if I am impatient. I could not imagine living in a situation where I couldn't dispose of my rags and unwanted solvents that way. I'm so careful about anything combustible lying around. Knock on wood!

RobbieTunes

Read up about “no Camaro SS or Z28’s in California or Washington,” merely due to the copper in their brake pads, for perspective

Much of it is all relative. A Prius, per one study, is not environmentally cleaner than a Honda Civic until about 250,000 miles, and does not consider the environmental impact of the ore needed to make the batteries, much less a replacement set.

Of course, it’s all on the internet. As if it’s credible.

BFisher

Yeah. Environmental impacts. Don't forget about what goes into your tires, and what comes out of them.
https://www.latimes.com/california/s...-tire-chemical

SurferRosa

Ever seen a crude oil drilling site?

texaspandj

Exactly what I was thinking.

canklecat

A few years ago Friction Facts published results of their methodical tests of many popular chain lubes and all purpose lubes. Regular WD-40 aerosol ranked near the bottom, but still good enough for most purposes. It ranked slightly better than Park CL-1, which I've used for years on my hybrids for wet and dry weather rides because the Park stuff resists washing out easily.

So plain old WD-40 works fine as a bike lube. They do have "better" lubes now for bike chains and other purposes. But the old WD-40 is a good all purpose elixir, for degunking crusty and grimy chains, displacing water and a decent lube.

My preferred chain lubes for my go-fast road bikes are melted wax and Rock 'n' Roll Absolute Dry or Gold, which rank near the top of Friction Facts tests. But I can't claim the lubes make a bit of difference in my average speeds. They just keep the chains a bit cleaner, but need to be reapplied more frequently.

I'd need to be 40 years younger and pushing the limits before I'd notice any difference in chain lubes. I'm at the age when the main thing I notice about chain lubes is my knees getting stiff squatting to lube the chains.

garryg

Listen guys ,we all need to be responsible for this planet by the choices we make . I respect the poster who mentioned quite casually that he dumps solvent on the ground. I do not believe he will continue that practice.
Just because industry may be polluting at huge levels does not excuse us from making the right personal choices.

randyjawa 

Every landfill site, where I live and I frequent four each week (not so much in the winter). Each landfill site has a solvent disposal container, for most solvents, oils etc.

I use WD40 to clean my chains and do so on the bike, as a rule. I WD40 each link and then wipe off excess. If a lot of debris has accumulated on my chain, I use a Q-tip to clean between links (this takes about an extra four or five minutes. Once clean, I apply my ProLink, wipe off the excess and Bob's your uncle.

I also use WD40 to clean out my freewheels without disassembly. Once flushed out, I blow (with my lips pursed) as much of the WD40 out of the freewheel (wish that I had a compressor). Then, in goes a bit of ProLink and, once again, Bob's your...

Been doing this for a long time now and results seem OK to me.

ramzilla

Diesel fuel is cheaper & works better.

old's'cool

I agree, but since bulk kerosene is available at my local filling station that is my preference, as the odour is much more benign, and the price premium is not enough to matter considering the quantity needed over time. Kerosene is also my preferred accelerant for initiating bonfires.

ramzilla

Everybody should know that all places that sell motor oil are required (by law) to accept & recycle used motor oil. Take all your waste oil back to any auto parts store & dump it into their receptacle for used oil. No big deal. I soak all my stuff in diesel fuel. I use primary & secondary containment. I pour used diesel into a container & allow contaminants to settle on the bottom. Then, I decant the clean diesel into another container. After a while, I accumulate a few pints of sludge. I take it down to my auto parts store & dump it into their tank. No worries. Be good. Have fun.

noglider 

OK folks. I promise I won't dump improperly anymore! I will also spread the word to others to dispose properly.

ramzilla

Funny thing. I used to work in a auto parts store. For about a year or so. Back in the day. When I was young. I was the assistant manager. So, I practically ran the place. Around 1974. We sold a lot of motor oil. We had a big square 200 gallon steel tank near the back door for returned waste oil. There was a company that came around once a month to pump out the tank. They paid us something like $0.50/gallon for the used oil. So, used oil is definitely valuable. They would pump out the tank. Measure the amount. And, write me a check. On the spot. I often wonder why these drive through oil change places charge a "disposal fee" for used oil. It's a rip off. They're actually making money off the waste oil. Because it's valuable.

ramzilla

Never tried kerosene. But, it sounds pretty good. It's what jet airplanes use. Probably very similar to diesel and, a little more refined. Maybe I'll pick up a gallon and try it out. Thanks. Be good. Have fun.

randyjawa 

Atta boy!