[spepic]

I came across a few posts about simple green, but it has never seemed to get grease off like the pedro's stuff.

Just curious if there are any low cost walmart/auto zone alternative to the following.....

Pedro’s Orange Peelz Degreaser=

Finish Line Citrus Degreaser=

White Lightening Clean Streak Degreaser=

Pedro's Bike Lust Polish=

Also looking for a way to clean crank arms, get rid of that cloudy look the older aluminum crank arms get.

 

[Gevorg]

Sometimes I use 409 as a degreaser. Gasoline is the best degreser, but you have to be really careful with it since it is a fire and other hazard

 

[El Kabong]

Just get some generic degreaser from your local Mall Wart - works fine. The cloudy aluminum is best fixed with Mother's Mag Wheel Polish from your auto parts store.

El K.

 

[Surestick Malone]

White Lightening Clean Streak Degreaser = Automotive brake cleaner.

I haven't tried it but some of the citrus engine degreasers they sell in the automotive section might be good replacements for the citrus degreasers from bike companies.

 

[FSRslug]

White Lightening Clean Streak Degreaser = Automotive brake cleaner.

Clean Streak does not contain any chlorine, which is in a lot of automotive brake cleaners.

 

[SteveUK]

The grease you'll find on/in bicycle components are usually pretty easy to break down, unless you've neglected them. I use White Spirit (Mineral Spirit in the US) to clean my chain, paying less than £1/litre. It's also easy to filter for re-use.

Steve

 

[new2this]

Buy simple green in the concentrate and mix it for different purposes. I use it @ 75% to soak my chain but at about 25-50% in a spray to clean my frame.

I also have used some of the citrus degreasers with success (WMT cheap stuff)

 

[Ratt]

Been using Zep Purple industrial degreaser from Home Depot to clean my chain. Shake it in a bottle with hot water, works as well as white gas for me.

 

[hugh088]

There are a lot of alternatives to the Gasoline that was suggested above. If you feel the need for a stronger solvent go with kerosene and keep it in an unbreakable bottle. It works every bit as good as gasoline and is much less dangerous and keep it out of the house. Do not dump it down the drain and reuse it if you have a safe place to store it. I've had the same jar of kerosene in my shop for about 15 years. That being said I've found simple green to work fine in most cases.