Good cheap hand cleaner
- Thread starter Mazz
- Start date
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Shut Up Legs
Down Under Member
I just use Ajax spray, both for cleaning the bike, and for cleaning oil and grease off my hands. It doesn't seem to cause any skin irritations, and works quite well. (I don't know if you have Ajax spray in the UK?)
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
A dab of liquid hand soap with half a teaspoon of sugar.
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Yep this ^^^
A squirt of washing up liquid and a teaspoon of sugar. The washing up liquid deals with the oil and the sugar acts as a mild abrasive. Much better than Swarfega, and more environmentally friendly as no microplastics.
A squirt of washing up liquid and a teaspoon of sugar. The washing up liquid deals with the oil and the sugar acts as a mild abrasive. Much better than Swarfega, and more environmentally friendly as no microplastics.
slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
I still use Swarfega with microplastic grains from the very large container that I bought years ago.
Big John
Legendary Member
^^^ This. However......after years of doing this, week in week out, I decided I'd had enough of scrubbing my hands almost until they bled. I bought my first box of disposable nitrile workshop gloves from Euro Car Parts a few years ago and I'll never go back to bare hands again. You can reuse the gloves basically until they form a hole, then throw them. A box of 100 gloves (50 pairs) last me about a year and I clean my bike three times a week. One ride = one cleaning session. I even build wheels with them on so touch and feel isn't compromised by wearing a glove.
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
I do use gloves for the *really* mucky jobs, and keep a pair in the car for using at the petrol pumps and the like. But being a female of the rather petite persuasion, even the smallest gloves are too long in the fingers, which means that I lose dexterity as a result of the excess glovage. Which isn't great for fiddly tasks.
Regular.Cyclist
Veteran
- Location
- South West Scotland 🏴
I have a large container of Swarfega Orange I bought circa 7 years ago. Apparently uses cornmeal instead of micro plastics.
Punkawallah
Veteran
Apparently a small amount of olive oil rubbed into the hands, left to ‘dry, then soap & water.
See, the Romans were right after all :-)
See, the Romans were right after all :-)
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
Similar but I go washing up liquid and salt. My hands feel so soft and loverly afterwards.
Profpointy
Legendary Member
Swarfega is the default and works well. The heavy duty orange version with bits in is even better. I was relieved to find that the bits were something like grain husks rather than microplastics. If the tub lives in the kitchen then you can get one with a squirty press down nozzle. Back in the 80s when I did all my own car maintenance I bought a gallon tin (of the green stuff) which you grab a handful from. Still got half left, but it's handy not to run out.
Swarfega seems better for your hands than washing up liquid and sugar if you use it a lot (but the alternative does work quite well if there's no swarfega)
Swarfega seems better for your hands than washing up liquid and sugar if you use it a lot (but the alternative does work quite well if there's no swarfega)
Last edited:
DaveReading
Don't suffer fools gladly (must try harder!)
- Location
- Reading, obvs
I substitute used coffee grounds for the sugar.
