Where do you discard chain cleaning solvents/degreasers? After reading comments that chain cleaning solvents could have substances of questionable health effects, and despite the benefits of bike chain-specific cleaning liquids, I'm doubling down on choosing an ordinary household citrus degreaser for chain cleaning, while ensuring to rinse with tap water—perhaps using a separate run of a bike chain cleaning device—promptly after using the degreaser (then drying for five minutes in the sun, applying a few drops of grease, spinning, and wiping).
I cycle on roads and only mildly dusty paths. My chain doesn't get grimy. Still, I would like to enjoy the peace of absolute zero noise emanating from the chain (the wind whistling between my ears and the helmet straps will be a tougher problem to eliminate), and so I am aiming for a perfectly clean chain. Also, I am starting to feel, perhaps delusionally, that this little remaining chain friction is what's standing between me and the &quot;next stage&quot; of cycling (faster).
Where do you discard the liquid when you're done? A citrus degreaser meant for household cleaning can presumably be safely flushed down the toilet, but this is not an option when it has been used to clean chain grime/grease. The cycling-specific solvents appear to be nasty enough they cannot be flushed down the toilet, even before they're mixed with dirt/grease.
Just dropping the tiny two ounces / 60 milliliters at the side of the road means the material will make its way unprocessed alongside rain water to canals, which is the worst possible option.
Which leaves a backyard or a garden, not too near any plants that might be consumed. The &quot;bio&quot; indication on some citrus degreasers suggests they can be poured right next to a tree, with little to no harm—but the presence of the grease means that pouring farthest from tree roots is wiser. Can bike chain-specific solvents also be discarded on some grass patch?
Disposing of hydrocarbon-based solvent would have to be at your local waste disposal service. Where I live, you can drop it off at the same place that you drop off bottles and cans (we pay an environmental refundable deposit). I suppose you could also burn it off, but that also seems environmentally harmful.
Flushing used citrus cleaner down the drain shouldn’t be a problem. Assuming where you live has a robust wastewater treatment system in place, I don’t see how it is any different from disposing of, say, oily dishwater. I suppose you could drop it off at the disposal centre too.