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How to Clean a Vintage Bicycle

Vintage bicycles are beautifully designed and interesting to look at. These old bikes are slightly different from newer bikes and are sometimes collected by bikers or collectors for aesthetic beauty, personal enjoyment or even for riding. Though full restoration requires adding new chains, fixing or replacing tires, and complete cleaning and painting, getting a vintage bike cleaned up for show or just to remove the rust and dust is fun and doesn't take long.

Things You'll Need

Water
Mild soap
Wash cloth
Soft brush
Towel
Rust-removing oil

Instructions

- 1
  Rinse the bike with water. Since vintage bike chains are often replaced with newer chains to prevent problems with the age of the chain, getting water on the chain is not typically a problem. If the chain is new or in good condition, remove the chain before cleaning.
- 2
  Add some mild soap to a wet wash cloth and gently clean away the dust and dirt. Use a circular motion to remove the dirt.
- 3
  Rinse the soap off and look for rust or stuck on dirt. Add soap to the soft brush and scrub the bicycle gently. Most rust and dirt should come off with the scrub brush and soap. Rinse the bicycle and inspect it for rust. By this point, any dirt is usually removed.
- 4
  Dry the bike with a towel. Remove all water droplets so that there is no water to rust the bike later.
- 5
  Apply the rust-removing oil. Gently rub at the rust with a soft brush and the oil until the rust is completely removed from the bike. Wipe gently with the towel to take off rust and excess oil.

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