Can't bed in my hydraulic brake pads I washed my bike with Rhino Goo fast action cleaner and fairy liquid in a spray bottle mixed with water. I used a hose pump with no pressure, so no liquid will go into my bearings etc. After I washed it, I dried it up and after a couple of hours applied lube on a chain with a slow method (1 drop of lube on every chain element). I applied it on lower part of it so it will not drip on anything except the floor.
Couple the days after I went out to bed the brakes in. They were horrible at the beginning: squealing, no force at all, stopping after a mile etc. I went up and down the hill for like 20 times, feeling that breaks were at their 70-75% of original state (front wheel was on its way to lock up and the back one skidded a few times). I had no time to continue with a thought that I do the same tomorrow.
Next day I went to the same hill, same bike, nothing happened to the bike at all, but all the stopping power was gone. It felt like I needed to do the bedding process all over again, but after 2-3 rides down the hill, I felt the force coming back and eventually, the same 70-75% of the original stopping power occurred.
Is it the liquid I'm using to clean the bike, because its not the first time this thing happened (I cleaned after not using for 3-4 months due to injury and bike becoming a bit dusty) or the way I clean the bike, or because I didn't finish the process of bedding in? I'm just about to give up and I'm ready to use the bike as it is and make the bedding in process on the way.
There is a good chance that mix of soaps is leaving a residue on the rotors and that is collecting on the pads and fouling them. If that soap residue is your problem, then it's also possible that the heat from use is helping performance, but it's not burning the soap away completely.
Whenever you're having a problem with brake power or excessive noise, the first troubleshooting step should always be to remove the wheel and the pads, clean the rotor and pads with brake cleaner or alcohol, and to then sand the pads with a fine sand paper just enough to take the very surface off. Don't sand the rotor (ever).
If that doesn't fix your problem, the pads might be fouled and contaminated by some kind of gunk, or an oil from chain or bleeding could have soaked into them. Sometimes this can be fixed by boiling out the contaminant with a small torch, then sanding the surface again, but most of the time, new pads are needed.
Bedding: the process of &quot;bedding in&quot; your brakes really only applies to when the pads and the rotor don't know each other, so to speak. New pads, new rotor, new both, the surfaces aren't worn into each other to make the maximum contact surface. What happens in bedding, is the differences in surface between the two wear in and become a match to each other. Washing your bike doesn't un-bed them. Removing your pads and re-installing the same ones doesn't un-bed them. Removing the pads and sanding them does un-bed them. I wouldn't worry about there being some complicated process to bedding, it's just a matter of knowing that for the first bit of your ride, the pads are wearing in to fit your rotor and the power comes up a little more with every use of the brake. You can do that in a parking lot or a special hill if you like. I just hit the trail and take it easy for the first half hour or so, or until I like how the brakes are working.
So go through those steps to try to revive the pads and clean the rotors, then maybe change up your cleaning process. If you like that mix of soap, be sure to rinse that soap off fully from the brake calipers and rotors. I personally recommend straight water if you want to use the hose. I clean with Windex or Simple Green and a rag and I only spray alcohol on rotors.