Green Oil Agent Apple Professional Degreaser

Green Oil Agent Apple Professional Degreaser mimics the cleaning power of petrochemicals but without the nasty environmental consequences. Don't be fooled by the eco-friendly labelling, though; store it carefully, and minimise contact with exposed skin, painted, plated, carbon and composite surfaces.

This might explain why it comes in an aluminium container, rather than recycled plastic, though it hasn't chomped through old, better quality ice cream tubs). The ingredients aren't particularly cutting edge, consisting of Limonene, a popular industrial cleaner derived from citrus fruits, and linalool, which is seemingly ubiquitous in toiletries/cosmetics. Said pairing forms a colourless, pleasant smelling, gunge gobbling cocktail.

Chain aside, for best results remove the offending components, pop them in a parts washer or thick-walled ice cream tub, shake the degreaser and pour in carefully. If you have a spare spray canister, say an old bike cleaner container, use it to squirt the degreaser into the parts nooks and crannies. Whatever your chosen method of deployment, leave it soaking for a few minutes while you find some brushes and disposable gloves as today's two part synthetic lubes are more tenacious than ever.

Simpler wet lubes and their contaminants scarper, ready for a freshwater rinse and drying off with an old rag in 5-10 minutes, though modern ceramics demanded two hours or so with periodic agitation, ditto the stodgy lithium greases commonly fed to headsets, bottom brackets and similar bearing surfaces.

In the name of investigative journalism, I sloshed 75ml worth over my elderly 8spd LX mech and left it marinating for three days. I ended up with lots of black, silty fluid, and some dulling of the anodised body. While we're on the subject of destroying surface finishes, acrylic paints literally vanish before the eyes, especially where they overlap electroplate. You have been warned.

However, slight spillages onto flamboyant or metallic enamels haven't resulted in any lasting damage when flushed away with clean water. It's disappointingly pedestrian by the brand's usual standards when presented with stodgy ceramics. While undeniably toxic, identical quantities of 95 octane unleaded literally strip super crudded cassettes, chain rings and so on, piranha fashion, in a matter of minutes.

[Editor's note: road.cc does NOT recommend that you use petrol as a cleaning agent unless your life's wish is to die in a domestic inferno.]

Verdict

Promising concept but pricey given its distinctly average performance.