Juice Lubes Dirt Juice Ultimate Workshop Degreaser

You could think of the Juice Lubes Dirt Juice Ultimate Workshop Degreaser as the maintenance spray of degreasers – a capable all-rounder, designed for a wealth of applications. The careful blend of solvents reflects this, being effective though not piranha-like. This means it won't wreck the delicate seals, bushings, plastics, elastomers and similar components found in suspension forks, seatposts, hubs and the like.

Make no mistake, it will still strip residual greases from headset and other bearings and oils from drivetrains. However, in the latter contexts, it's most economical as a 'chaser' to brush-on concentrate degreasers.

Specification

Juice Lubes was a little coy regarding the degreaser's precise chemistry, except to say it consists of carefully blended solvents – the sort that will blitz grime but are, theoretically at least, safe on seals, plastics and other sensitive components and surfaces.

The brand believes in manufacturing biodegradable products wherever it's practical and where it won't compromise performance. However, Juice Lubes says it couldn't get a biodegradable mix to deliver the desired standard for this degreaser, and the same goes for its bearing grease.

In other respects, it works to the same science as other aerosols. A butane propellant fires the solvent, which hits the surface and cleans it, before evaporating, so there's no need for rinsing and/or drying. Theoretically, the same goes for scrubbing but this isn't always the case and is a testament to modern lubricants, rather than a slight on this and similar cleaners.

Methods/Technique

Much will depend upon the state of components that you're blitzing. If you're tackling a headset, hubs or a seatpost that are protected by grease that's liquified to a greasy gravy, then you can simply give the aerosol a vigorous shake and blast the parts.

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It's much the same story for lightly soiled cassettes, chains, derailleur cages and jockey wheels. Wax-type chain lubricants tend to melt rather than vanish with solvent sprays, so I've tended to apply a concentrate, such as the Green Oil Clean Chain Degreaser, agitating with a stiff brush, beforehand.

Similarly, when it comes to scuzzy cassettes, I tend to remove the wheel, dawb concentrate over the entire block, taking care to angle it toward the ground so solvent flows away from the hub and seals. Though not neurotic, I minimise contact with painted, plated and lacquered surfaces, too. The same goes for Helicopter tape and stickers, since solvents can dissolve adhesives, causing them to lift and peel.

Performance

For the most part, performance has mirrored other aerosol-based, spray n' go strippers. It's on a par with Muc-Off High-Pressure Quick Drying Degreaser Chain & Cassette but lags behind something like Weldtite Jet Blast.

Calling its bluff, it raced through lightweight ISO/PTFE based lubes in around 20 seconds flat, leaving chains and cassettes sparkling. Mind you, any impacted, congealed cocktail of grit, mud and stray foliage will still require a quick helping of concentrate degreaser and tickling with the cassette claw beforehand, and the same is true for derailleur cages and jockey wheels.

I'd fed my rough stuff tourer's Aheadset bearings and crank axles Peaty's Speed Grease for the summer but decided it prudent to switch to Juice Lubes Bearing Grease. First, Since I'd been given that to test, and second, conditions were turning more wintery. In terms of consistency, Speed Grease is closer to 10w/40 motor oil than a grease per se.

Three moderate blasts and a clean rag rub over, and the headset races, bearings and crank splines were stripped of the Peaty's and ready for a proper lick of bearing grease. The Juice Lubes also makes post-fettling tool clean-ups a breeze. Blast, wipe clean, hang up/put away for next time.

However, when it came to purging stubborn sophisticated polymer greases, such as the White Lightning Crystal Clear Grease that I rated, and which is personal, hell 'n' high water favourite, parts needed traditional citrus degreaser, a short (few minutes) marinate, medium-stiff brush agitation, before finishing off with Dirt Juice Ultimate Workshop Degreaser.

In these contexts, concentrated liquids such as the Juice Lubes concentrate that Dave tested or the Green Oil Agent Apple Degreaser Green Oil Agent Apple Degreaser that Stu reviewed are what's called for, when it comes to grot-busting efficiency and economy. However, the latter is not something you want to be sloshing around near pretty finishes, or delicate surfaces (including your skin and eyes) and you should rinse promptly.

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In common with Motorex's Power Clean Spray, Juice Lubes Ultimate Workshop Degreaser has proven surprisingly good when purging grotty disc rotors and banishing pad-ruining witches' brews from callipers. I'd gone through two sets – on my fixed-gear winter trainer and rough- stuff tourer – with alarming speed, courtesy of roads coated in deep, slimy field mud and bovine dung. Finished off with gritty puddle juice. Old pads out, a couple of short blasts had the callipers gleaming and I could slot the replacements straight in.

The Ultimate Workshop Degreaser has been similarly effective when freeing sticky control cables, locking and other mechanisms. Just remember a quick shot of GT85 or similar afterward, so they've some filmy, corrosion-busting lubricant to keep them happy. Talking of which, I've even employed ours to chase home-brewed corrosion inhibitors through a steel frame's inner sanctum.

These solvent sprays also work quite credibly as release/freeing agents – for example when removing carbon gripper paste from a seatpost or liberating stubborn aluminium alloy posts, quill stems and the like from a steel frameset. The Ultimate Workshop Degreaser is no exception. I successfully freed a mysteriously stuck gusset headlock (a long chromoly bolt and T-bar used to secure and tension Aheadsets) with two short blasts and a firm tap from a rubber engineer's mallet.

Value

The £11.99 price seems competitive for this kind of rapid cleaner. Motorex Power Clean Spray that I reviewed is a more generic workshop blend, and the solvent lingers a little longer, so has greater effect.

I also tested the Tru Tension Cycle Drivetrain Degreaser, which is cheaper at £10.00 for 500ml and perhaps predictably, has a slight edge over the Juice Lubes Ultimate Workshop Degreaser when tackling drivetrain grot.

Muc-Off Quick Drying Degreaser comes in at £14.99 for 750ml. However, though speedy, Jamie found it didn't last particularly long. Weldtite's Jet Blast Degreaser costs £9.99 for 500ml and I found it effective,, although it seems more aggressive than the Ultimate Workshop Degreaser, so I've exercised greater caution around seals and bushings.

Verdict

Ultimately, as a general, speed-orientated workshop cleaner that won't do nasty things to delicate parts, Juice Lubes Ultimate Workshop Degreaser is competent. It's probably best thought of as the degreaser equivalent or WD40, or Motorex Joker 440 that I tested and has rapidly become a go-to when I'm needing to get a winter overhaul done quickly. A headset strip and re-pack, or brake calliper clean and pad swap when the temperature's dropping. Not to mention switching a dry lube for something more seasonal or shifting a silently sticking contact point or two.

Verdict

Competent cleaner spray for general workshop duties but less potent than some