Cleaning the chain

[missliz]

Ummm, there shouldn't be any water involved in chain cleaning. Petroleum based solvent just evaporates off. If you're using that Simple Green stuff on the chain, well, ooh, rust. It's an excellent product for cleaning things like greasy dirt on the frame or the stove in your kitchen, but not for mechanical parts. It's water based, therefore rust. One of the great beautys of parrafin lubes, though, is that you don't do all that cleaning stuff. Most dirt doesn't stick, and you clean the rest by just adding more lube and the lumps of dirt fall off.
Of course the rag is greasy, you want that. Oil on metal protects it from rust. The chain shouldn't be squeaky clean- naked metal is vulnerable. And yes, four years will build up a lot of goo if you haven't cleaned the crud off. There's a lot of dirt up in the spacers between the links that will never come out. Grease attracts dirt and grit, so you get goo and excessive wear.
After four years, it's probably time to just put on a new chain anyway. They're supposed to be replaced periodicly as they wear and stretch. They aren't expensive and if you want to go to a parrafin lube that's the time to do it, on a fresh clean chain. Find a good mechanic and let him or her put it on- chains come in a standard length and will need to be shortened to fit your bike depending on gearing, frame size, ect. And don't sweat removing your own chain- get the LBS to tell you how it's done, but it's a big pain depending on the equipment you have. You used to just need a simple $5 gizmo to push out a pin but now you need to put in a new pin on Shimano chains, at $2 or so a pop, or if you lucked out and have Sach's stuff there's a master link that's a snap to pop but again, somebody needs to show you. Taking the chain off shouldn't happen that often anyway. You should know how it works but there is no shame in finding a great mechanic and letting them do the big stuff every year or so.
I think if you get a new chain and some White Lightning you'll be happy- your legs will love it. You need to put it on pretty often, maybe once or twice a week depending on your mileage but I assure you it's incredibly easier than the options. High maintenence is fun for about two weeks, then you look for simpler ways to do it. I ride deep muck and swampy places on the farm ( my MT bike works for a living) and when the Beast is filthy enough to need the hose I can blow the mud off the chain (breifly!) and not get red tears later. The wax seems to fill up the gaps inside the spacers eventually and water can't collect in there. It also works great for a lot of other things, like cleats and brake cables.

missliz