How to clean a rusted dirty bike chain. 4 different ways!

0:00 - Intro / Rag
1:02 - Soap, Brush & WD-40
1:27 - Degreaser
2:01 - Vinegar / Outro

A dirty bike never looks good. However, I personally think a dirty bike with a clean chain looks better than a clean bike with a dirty chain. Luckily, there are a few ways to remove the rust and gunk. Starting with things you’ll have around the house. And, working up to making any chain look as good as new.

The first method is to simply use a rag, some elbow grease and a bit of patience. I think you see where I’m going with this. Just backpedal the bike for as long as you can through the rag and the rust will slowly disappear.

Moving up, hot water soap and a bristly brush is the next best option. Here I’m using a dustpan brush however anything like this should work fine. Same as the last option backpedal the bike for as long as you can, this time it should work a bit quicker.

Next, if you have WD-40 or something like it, spray some of it on the chain and make sure not to get any on your rotor.

Lastly, for the most overkill of methods, use a degreaser. I personally don’t have any, so I use someone else’s video. Their video will be in the description. Take your chain off and put it into the degreaser. You could use an ice cream tub or cut off half a plastic bottle. Then let it soak overnight. In the morning all the rust will magically disappear. As if you did one of the previous methods all day.
After doing any of these make sure to lube your chain. So that’s it for this week’s video. If you enjoyed it, please make sure to do what every other YouTuber tells you to do. Thanks, guys.

[villages]

Dip the chain in vinegar for just 5 mins and clean the loose rust using steel wool and detergent. Inspect and dip for another 5 mins in vinegar if required. Saw some people keep it over night which is a very bad idea. Don't forget to dry it quickly using a heat gun and oil it. Once chain has gathered rust, it is prone to catch rust again. This is because the outer rust protective layer(bluing - which is also used on rifle barrels) has been compromised.

[Dragontron]

The Lord bless you lady I was so stressed since my car is out of the picture for at least a week and i found this video which shows me how to do things at my skill level (When it comes to bikes that skill level would be 0 :P) so thank you and God bless.

[litmantuck]

Left my daughters bike outside so thanks for the video! Commentary is also hilarious. Double thanks!

[billyliburdi]

Awesome video got a bike chain that has been sitting outside for years to look almost new agian with just water soap and a old tooth brush

[corinlanser]

Great simple tips.. Been using metal scourer and bits going everywhere! thanks for these four and there magic vinegar, might be nice trying that than degreaser

[djdragon]

Evaporust ain’t a degreaser it’s a safe rust remover for you know removing rust.
Best option for rusted chains and cogwheels if you can’t afford new premium chains.

[bigbill]

White vinegar is really good for cleaning a lot of things

[Khylesworld]

You can use coka cola and pour it in ur chain ect, ... and while ur rusty chain is wet just brush it

[specfever]

Why would degreaser remove rust? Not arguing, I just don't get it. I'd say immersing in vinegar would help though. (it sure appeared to work in your video...and I saw you gave vinegar some cred, too!) :)

[sergeyakimov]

I already bought an Evaporust for 30$ ..instead I could get 5 gallons of vinegar and a big 5lb bag of baking soda. .works just as well

[daniell]

great video man, very helpful thanks! also that last time lapse was dope

[caiw]

Why did the first picture look like the bike that me and my friend pulled out a river😂

[Kaiya]

Overnight is ok in the de-greaser then? I work at a factory in Taiwan and we soak machine parts in lix for 20 minutes.

[xzxz-uylm]

Best way to sort rusty items is a 50% molasses 50% water bath for 2 weeks

[rhettvincent]

May I ask what song you used here? Cheers! :)

[me]

Coke a cola can also be used as degreser

[tanqinxiang]

one tip for all, dont soak overnight for the cassette lock ring, it corrodes it. doesnt matter but looks ugly.

[yelabombshell]

Nice! Need to clean my mountain bike soon, too. Haven't been using it since the pandemic.

[Kayciemraeed]

Let's ignore the fact that he PUTS 2 PART EPOXY ON HIS BIKE CHAIN