Given the lifetime of a chain I think it's worth going to the effort of a few spirit shake ups and final alcohol rinse to get any residue off.
It's going to be a long time before I have to go down that path again but this is the method I would use next time:
- 10-20 minutes initial soak in mineral turps (aka white spirits in the US), then shake and pour out
- Then add new mineral turps and shake it up in a sealed container, for as many times as needed to make it run perfectly clear
- Flush it with boiling water to get most of the solvents off
- Final isopropyl alcohol shake up and then hang to evaporate completely (or finish it with a hair dryer, if impatient)
There's no mistaking the bone dry feeling after the alcohol flies away.
There was this one time when I asked a bike shop to fully strip a new chain and despite the ultrasonic and soaking it in degreaser (granted, bio degreaser, probably not the strongest stuff) it was still tacky to the touch on the outside, so when I shook it up in solvents at home it still got all cloudy. Better to be thorough and have it absolutely stripped so the wax can adhere and work to its full effect.
too complicated for me. i use only mineral spirits. two jars, one is a pre clean, the other a final. from this thread you should be able to tell the difference:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...ng-chains.html
personally i see o reason to pour out the chemicals, they can be used over and over until they just don;t work any more. i also know i can decant or filter out the jars but why, then i have that crap to clean up. my own way is pretty darn clean and quick. i'll share if anyone cares to know.