Re-lubrication
The step after degreasing, and it is not optional. Cleaning a mechanism removes the lubricant deliberately, and stopping there is worse than not cleaning it.
In detail
Anywhere a cleaning process removes a lubricant, replacing it is part of the process rather than a refinement. The bicycle documentation states it as an instruction — the chain MUST be re-lubricated — and specifies the method: run the chain through a clean dry rag first to make sure it is dry, then apply one drop of lubricant per link. Both halves matter. A wet surface stops the new lubricant reaching where it is needed, and the per-link dosing exists because excess collects grit and makes the next cycle dirtier than the last. The principle is broader than bicycles and this catalogue already carries three other cases of it. A cast iron pan is dried immediately and thoroughly and given a light coat of oil, because water rather than detergent is what harms a seasoned surface. Hand tools are carbon steel whose protection is an oil film, so a degreasing wash without re-oiling leaves them worse off than before. And an oiled timber surface cleaned with anything alkaline has had its finish partly removed and needs it renewed. The general form is simple: if the surface was protected by something the cleaning dissolves, the cleaning is only half done until it is put back.
What works
Re-lubrication is effective against Fingerprints Supported
The counter-intuitive one: a fingerprint on bare steel comes off with oil, not with detergent.
Why
- Re-lubrication is explained by Corrosion and passivation
Sources for this page
Sources
Park Tool Co. · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the chain must be re-lubricated, that it is first run through a clean dry rag to ensure it is dry, and that one drop of lubricant per link is applied. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The procedure in full: preparation, the drivetrain sequence, frame and wheels, rinsing, drying and re-lubrication. Supports the claim as stated. Opens the bicycle as an object with drivetrain components, and supplies the two facts that make it safety-relevant rather than cosmetic: solvent must be kept out of the bearings, and the chain must be re-lubricated afterwards.
How to Clean seasoned cast iron
Lodge Cast Iron (Lodge Manufacturing Company) · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the manufacturer directs drying immediately and thoroughly and applying a light coat of oil after washing. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The three-step cleaning method, the soap statement, and the rust guidance. Supports a wider statement — our claim was widened. Created the cast iron record and overturned the most widely repeated rule about it: CleaningHQ would otherwise have carried the folk prohibition on soap, and the manufacturer states the opposite with the reason. SPRINT 32 READ THE FAQ BLOCK AND IT ADDED ALMOST NOTHING — soap, soaking, steel wool and the dishwasher again, in question form. The three cast-iron rows it unblocked were unblocked by re-reading OUR OWN STALE NOTES, not by reading more of this source.
Last reviewed by a person on .