Shop Tip o' the day- Cleaning White Bar Tape

[Running Mommy]

We found this one sort of by accident. One of our employees has a Rabobank edition tcr complete w/ white bar tape. - Mechanics run in fear when they see a white road bike roll in.. Cause it's just soo fun to try to clean them, and keep the tape clean.

One day our employee was cruising around the shop looking for the bike cleaner, and found a tub of GOJO wipes. These are shop wipes with a citrus scent, and have a rough texture to them. She gave them a try, and sure enough they work GREAT!
And in fact we have a couple of ladies come in just to have us clean their bar tape.

Oh and to keep clean tape clean, we wrap the bar's in Press and Seal saran wrap. Works like a charm!

[lph]

Doesn't the saran wrap make the bars slippery? Or is it just temporary til the owners pick them up?

[ridebikeme]

Ahhh, I know the feeling when a bike rolls in with white bar tape Definitely some good tips on cleaning the tape... have you noticed at all that the tape gets dries out after cleaning it? I realize that they are two different textures, but my hands seem to really dry out after using Gojo.(although it does indeed seem to be the best)

In the shop, we tend tend to use some hand towels and zip tie them on the handlabars. I've also seen shops use aluminum foil with zip ties.

Perhaps for the holidays, you could market the gojo wipes for stocking stuffers?

Have a great holiday season.

[copperlegend]

Awesome! My tape was getting all sorts of grubby, I was afraid I'd have to replace it soon! And the Gojo wipes will be very handy for the BF and his car-related activities! Thank you!!!!

[cylegoddess]

I dont know if I can get Gojo out here but I am trying citrus cleaner.Thanks!! Mines grubby!

[Owlie]

Cool. We used to use Gojo (not the wipes) to clean paintbrushes in my high school art classes (only the stubborn ones with lots of dried-out acrylic paint on them).

[kelownagirl]

Here's how I cleaned mine last time. Take off white bar tape. Put on black bar tape. Works like a charm.

[Running Mommy]

The gojo wipes are different from the stuff in the orange container. If anyone would like me to send them some to try, send me an email at the shop- denise@estrellamountaincyclerydotcom. I'll throw a couple in a ziploc and mail them off to you.
We scrub the tape w/the wipes, and then use a paper towel to dry the bars and remove any residual residue.
And the press and seal is only used during service. People tend to appreciate it when we wheel their bike out to them and peel off the wrap. It shows that we care about treating their bike as our own.

[katluvr]

Here's how I cleaned mine last time. Take off white bar tape. Put on black bar tape. Works like a charm.

When my "pink" bike came it had a white seat adn white handle bar tape. I have lived with (and even like)the white seat. I had my LBS guy take the white off immediately and replace it with black. Trust me, it is for the best!

[TrekTheKaty]

Here's how I cleaned mine last time. Take off white bar tape. Put on black bar tape. Works like a charm.

When I bought my bike, I already was dreaming of changing the white handle bar tape, but DH thought it looked COOL!

A year later, he couldn't wait to rip it off

[DebW]

I had white plastic bar tape on a yellow bike many many years ago, when I was working in a shop and of course rode the bike home every day with filthy hands. The white tape turned yellow and matched my bike! People used to ask me how I found tape to match the bike.

[colorisnt]

I just cleaned my white tape with shout. I sweat I can grease out of anything with shot and a toothbrush. If I didn't have this ability, 9/10ths of my wardrobe would be covered in dirt, grease, and other issues.

[nscrbug]

I've used OxyClean on my white bar tape...and it worked okay. But I took a little spill a few weeks back and tore up some of the tape, so it needs to be replaced. I just ordered some new BLACK bar tape, so I won't have to worry about cleaning it anymore.

[Aggie_Ama]

I have white grips on my mountain bike, trust me they look amazing but they get dirt like nobody's business. I tried the trusty Mr Clean magic eraser I used on white tape but the grips are rough. I found squirt Simple Green, run a wash cloth around and boom they are white.

Mountain bikes need cleaning way more often than my road bike so it doesn't bother me to have white grips. The bike gets cleaned after nearly every ride with our dusty trails. It is all about the bike matching my personality and the white grips make it feel more "mine".

[marni]

I second the need for black or dark colored bar tape. But then I also wear black shorts so that when/if my hands get dirty, I can spit and wipe without anyone knowing the diff.

just saying