Crankalicious Mud Honey 500ml Foaming Bucket Wash

Crankalicious Mud Honey Foaming Bucket Wash is a concentrate formula that – as the name suggests – you pour sparingly into a bucket of warm water and agitate with a jumbo sponge or bike brush until it assumes a rich, foamy lather. I've been pleasantly surprised by its performance and frugality.

Ingredients

Believing it was a boutique eco-friendly 'artisan' blend, I was a little alarmed by the caustic warning triangle and safety precautions. Closer inspection revealed this was only problematic to the concentrate rather than dilute formula. Minimise exposure to the concentrate, don't get it in your eyes and, obviously, use and store away from animals and small children.

Tony at Cranklicious graciously declined to discuss specific chemical composition, but he would say the Mud Honey is a 'very high concentration' pH neutral bucket wash, with high quality surfactants' – grime-gobbling compounds to you and me.

Used as directed, it's completely safe on all surfaces and finishes, including carbons and matt paintwork.

How to use

For best results pop two, possibly three, capfuls – depending on how grime-encrusted your bike is – into a bucket and then fill with very warm tap water. Stir up to agitate the mix and produce those sudsy bubbles.

Once outside, cover machine(s) under a rich sudsy blanket. Like most, it's best applied out of direct sunlight. Give ingrained dirt a good tickling with your brushes, sponge or wash-mitt during this phase. When you're ready, rinse off with a low pressure hose, avoiding direct contact with bearings and seals.

Obviously, a second bucket of clean, cold water works just fine but a hose avoids frustrating cross contamination that can strike when cleaning a fleet of mucky bikes.

Force of habit sees me rinse bikes in cold water to start with. In winter, this will greatly reduce the likelihood of residual road salt and other caustic elements taking a bite out of your frameset or components.

Given the warnings, I ummed and ahhed about gloves, but 45 minutes and three bikes later, my skin didn't feel uncomfortably tight or dry, though I'd encourage folks with sensitive skins to reach for the marigolds. Warnings about eye contact weren't idle talk either – a stray droplet induced a yelp and some moderate cussing.

Performance

As was obvious from my opening paragraph, I've been pleasantly surprised. Most formulas, bike-specific or otherwise, cut through organic grime, road and trail spray, silty spatter, watermarks and so on. However, the Mud Honey's surfactants quickly break down grime, which slithers away into a frothy pool beneath, with nominal effort.

Impacted horse/bovine dung and notoriously acidic seagull poop that had cured during the course of a very warm ride also shifted with remarkable ease. By contrast, achieving similar results with decent bike washes demands elbow grease and, sometimes, judicious deployment of very warm water.

> Video: Cleaning and lubing your bike – the pro way

Though my Holdsworth was basically clean, the warmer weather had caused its waxy internal preserve to seep out and congeal at various points. This cheesy looking layer was easily dismissed with gentle agitation. It was the same story for more basic chain lubes, which sometimes fling off and leave splashes along the chainstay, although stouter/more sophisticated petrochemical types needed a bit more persuasion.

Tickling silicone and cork bar wraps with a stiff brush, ingrained grime lifted satisfyingly before the eyes.

Mud Honey can be used as a stock for a spray-on bike wash, too. Why would you want to? Well, perhaps a fleet of lightly soiled bikes need prepping pronto. Pour 1-1.5 capfuls into a spent bike wash bottle, add your water, trigger spray and get busy.

Video: The lazy guide to cleaning your bike

Provided you've followed the directions and rinse promptly, streaking won't be an issue, at least on gloss paints. Sure, I've found the odd watermark, but these vanish with a quick mist of furniture polish buffed to a sheen. Matt finishes are difficult customers full stop, so apply some dedicated protectant afterwards to remove faint oily marks.

Conclusion

If your bottom line is price, then 2-in-1 car products will do a very reasonable job for around £1.99 a litre. However, assuming you didn't want the wax component, the Mud Honey goes a very long way and makes short work of tough grime.

Verdict

Sensibly priced and very effective alternative to spray-on bike washes