Bicycle Tutor

Does anyone have a sure fire method to clean hands and cloths from a dirty chain?

I don't. The basic rule for me has been Spray and Wash for anything involving clothes and lots of soap for the hands (Lava gets more than the standard soap does, though soap takes a lot of it off the hands). The soap takes care of most of what will get on anything else, but there will always be some staining, and that goes for the clothes as well. I have a shop rag I use for parts cleaning and handling the parts (like the chain) when I know I need to pull it around (or I keep it handy to wipe my hands when I'm done).

For clothes, really the best thing is to either do something like the link below when you're working on a bike, or just find a set of clothes you really don't care too much about to wear while you work on them.

http://bicycletutor.com/go/parkshopapron

Perhaps the best thing I've found for this, though, is to find chain oil that's closer to bike oil (Finish Line!) than use the standard X-Mart stuff (4-in-1 won't wash off with NOTHING).

Hope that helped some, but I can't say I've found a nice way to clean up, myself, and I haven't read anything about it. Just part of it, I suppose.

I've found that "GOJO" works really well at removing grease and oil from your hands without drying out your skin.

http://bicycletutor.com/go/gojo

A product named "Lestoil" works equally well at removing petroleum based stains from clothing. Another tip is to wear latex or vinyl disposable gloves when you're going to be working on anything greasy on your bike.