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Another product in the SLEEK Clean Care range of environmentally sound bike cleaners.
Available in 1 litre, 2.5 and 5 litre bottles, the degreaser promises to remove grease and grime from your bike in a jiffy. To my mind, degreaser is for dirty chains and cassettes and nowhere else. So that is where I tested it.
My usual test procedure is simplicity itself. I pour maybe half an inch of neat solution into a chain bath (a recycled container). The chain is left in the solution for the recommended time, while the liquid is sloshed around a bit. At the appropriate juncture, the chain is rinsed thoroughly and inspected for residue. It isn’t necessarily the recommended procedure but it allows me to be consistent.
The amount of grease and grime left on the chain after this treatment is a surprisingly accurate indication of the efficacy of the product.
Let’s just say I was taken aback at the effectiveness of the SLEEK Bike Degreaser. It was significantly better than any other (big name) products I have used…ever. Whereas I generally expect to have to put a bit of work in afterwards to get a properly clean chain, this has not the case so far. Chains have gone in seriously mucky and emerged without a scrap of residue.
As usual, this is a reflection of my findings. Others may have different results but, on the basis of the tests I have run, I can unequivocally recommend this.
The Mighty Degreaser
The website states that it lifts grease rapidly, even waterproof grease. It goes without saying therefore, don’t get it near your bearings or other lubricated surfaces. Unless of course, you are going to regrease them!
So effective is this product that while I only managed to get a very dilute solution on my hands, it immediately stripped all the natural oils from my skin. While you can easily resolve this by using moisturiser afterwards it is probably better to use latex gloves or similar in the first place.
Follow the instructions carefully. This is a very powerful product. Do not leave it in contact with your bike or components any longer than recommended and rinse it off thoroughly.
SLEEK Bike Degreser
£12.99 to £39.99
Pros
- Effective
- Non toxic
- Environmentally friendly
Cons
- None
Last modified: 11th February 2019
