Best bike cleaning kits 2026: for a faster and shinier bike
The best bike cleaners and tools will keep your steed clean, well oiled and ultimately save you money by keeping your bike in tip-top running order
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Keeping your bike clean is one of the best ways to ensure that it’s running as efficiently as possible, while helping to prolong the life of many of its moving parts. Given the growing cost of replacing components, investing in one of the best bike cleaning kits won’t just help your bike’s performance but will be kinder on your wallet.
So which elements should you be looking for? The best bike cleaning kits typically contain a blend of cleaners and lubes, which enable you to spruce up the frame as well as rid the drive chain of unwanted grease, grit and general muck. They typically will have a range of brushes too, each with a specific purpose, from cleaning a cassette to buffing up wheels. Some kits will even come with a case or bucket to store all the items in.
Choosing which is the best kit for you will depend on a number of factors, including whether you’re buying one for the first time or are instead looking to update and replenish your current stock. Fortunately our team of reviewers have tested a wide range of the best bike cleaning kits and we've selected from their favorites here, all of which have been put through paces to see if they are up to the task.
Muc-Off makes several bike cleaning kits with varying levels of tools and cleaning products. Regardless of which kit you buy, the core products, like its cleaner and basic brushes, are always included, but the 8-in-1 is a good place to start.
The Peaty's Ultimate kit features wooden brushes, a biodegradable cleaner, and a recycled plastic toolbox, which ticks many boxes for reasons to choose their kit. It's worth noting that Peaty's products are also very good and my personal go-to choice.
Packing all the essentials to get you started the Weldtite Grande Bike Care kit, gets a litre of cleaner, a sprocket brush, a cloth, degreaser spray and a ceramic chain lube.
You don't need much to wash a bike, really you just need some degreaser or cleaner, a sponge and a bucket, not forgetting some elbow grease. That's pretty much what the Halfords Complete Bike Cleaning Kit offers minus the elbow grease, sorry.
The Crankalicious cleaning kit features 11 elements, seven of which are various specialized detailing cleaning and lube formulas. It is ideal for those who want to make their bikes sparkle and gleam.
Along with the 'basics', you also get a chain cleaner tool and frame detailing polish and protection. I love that it is PH neutral making it super safe but that doesn't come at any compromise of its ability to clean.
All of Muc-Off's cleaning kits feature its Iconic pink Nano Tech Bike cleaner
If you’ve just bought one of the best road bikes or perhaps one of the best gravel bikes and you want a starter kit to keep it clean, then the Ultimate from Muc Off is a great choice.
We’ve chosen it as best overall in this guide thanks to its comprehensive nature. This is a kit that really does cover all bases and a great starting point for those new to bike cleaning or for any cyclist wanting to update their cleaning kit by starting afresh.
Naturally it contains the brand’s iconic pink Nano Tech bike cleaner, which is a multi-purpose offering that works across much of the bike and to be paired with the sponge. There’s also a dedicated drivechain cleaner, which like the aforementioned bike cleaner, is biodegradable and has consistently proved effective at dissolving grime collected on the chain and cassette.
The set of brushes include one designed to accompany the Bio Drivechain Cleaner, helping you to clean those hard to reach spots, especially between the cogs. There’s also larger brushes for cleaning the frame and wheels.
The final stage of cleaning a bike is to protect it against the elements. The Muc-Off kit contains a bike protect spray for the frame and a lube for the chain. The former is accompanied by handy cloth. And last but not least there's the tool box to store all the elements in, helping to keep your garage or workshop a little tidier.
Muc Off 8-in-1 Bicycle Cleaning Kit
While it does not feature any drivetrain degreaser, the Muc-Off 8-in-1 bicycle cleaning kit is comprehensive. You, of course, receive the Nano Tech cleaner and a bucket, but the inclusion of Muc-Off's full brush set makes this a great option for anyone looking to spruce up their bike.
Peaty's bicycle cleaning kit
Our expert review:
Peaty’s bicycle cleaning kit is another comprehensive offering , featuring seven items in total including cleaners, degreasers and brushes. It gets our nod as the most eco friendly kit in the guide due to the solid environmental credentials of the products, even the brushes have wooden handles rather than the usual plastic affair, while the smart carrying case is made from recycled materials.
Both the bike cleaner, called Loam Foam, and the foaming drive chain cleaner are excellent, doing the job they are intended for without complaint; the Loam Foam has the added bonus of a truly minty smell, too!
The All-Weather LinkLube is equally effective and just as minty. Application is aided by a well-designed tall, slim bottle and a clear tip that allows you to see that the lube is in the chamber and ready to be applied.
The kit contains two brushes. One is aptly titled the Bog Brush, and is designed to deal with the cleaning of the frameset and the wheels. The other is a dedicated cassette cleaning tool, which features a nicely angled handle to help keep your knuckles away from the sharp cogs. Last, but not least, is a cleaning cloth, resplendent in a suitably mint blue colour.
Our expert review:
Weldtite's Grande Bike Care Kit is a truly cost effective way of cleaning your bike. Like the Halfords kit below, it’s a fraction of the cost of many featured in this guide but still covers most of the bases.
As you’d hope there are products to cover all the areas of a proper clean. The litre bottle of bike cleaner features a trigger that allows you to apply it as a fine mist or a power spray; it means that this bottle is good to be used again and again, whether you choose to refill it with a Weldtite cleaner or not. The citrus degreaser also comes with a trigger spray and some eco-credentials, while the ceramic lube is also bio-degradable.
The only brush in the kit is a dedicated cassette cleaner, which if you’re starting from scratch is ideal, as you can always get by with cleaning the frame and wheels with a kitchen sponge. There is however a cleaning cloth to finish off the job, as well as four disc brake cleaning wipes.
There’s no bucket or carrying case included here, but given the price point it’s understandable.
Our expert review:
For those of you in the UK and looking for a genuinely well-priced cleaning set that covers all the basics, then the kit from Halfords is tough to beat.
It’s almost as complete an offering as both the Muc Off and Peaty’s kits featured in this guide, featuring eight items, including a 1-litre bucket which stores the items and can be used as part of the cleaning process, too.
It’s fair to say that the cleaning products don’t perform quite as well as the two brands mentioned above but the Halfords kit is literally a fraction of the price. And for that you still get a dedicated cleaner, degreaser spray and an all-weather bike lube. We found all of them did their job well, while the citrus smell made the job of cleaning a little more pleasant.
The cassette cleaning brush is a nice touch, something you don’t always see in budget cleaning kits. Additionally there’s a general purpose cone brush, a sponge and cloth, enabling you to tackle all the stages of a comprehensive bike clean.
Crankalicious offer a range of kits, designed to tackle specific areas of the cleaning process or for bike frames with a specific finish, such as matt carbon and titanium.
Like a variety pack of cereals, there’s something for everyone. The stalwarts of the brand’s cleaning line is the Pineapple Express spray wash, the Mud Honey foaming bucket wash and and the Limon Velo degreaser; the latter is also a spray.
There’s also a dedicated frame polish, a leather cleaner, which works on saddles and bar tapes and also a pair of the best cycling shoes, would they need a spruce up, and a tyre cleaner. Depending on the kit, you also get a wash bucket, a hand-shaped washing mitt and a buffing cloth.
Together it makes for a varied and comprehensive offering that’s well-suited to cyclists whose bike is their pride and joy, be it a vintage classic or a modern road machine.
If you’re a few extras in your bike cleaning kit, then Juice Lubes is another brand to look for. The set featured here has all the basics but also some nice extras; we really like the inclusion of the frame polish and protector as well as the chain-cleaning tool. The latter is typically something you’d have to purchase separately and is, we find, a cleaner and more effective way to de-grease your drivechain when compared to using a brush.
The Juice Lubes bike cleaner is a real standout. It’s delivered in a concentrated form, which means it goes a long way compared to the diluted versions. It’s also really effective at getting rid of dirt without you having to apply lots of elbow grease. This might be the generous foam it produces, who knows? Either way it’s one of our favoured bike cleaners.
For most of the Cycling Weekly team, testing the best bike cleaning kits and cleaners involves getting out, riding bikes, and getting mucky. Thanks to our fairly damp climates, this is not a difficult task for most of us who live in the UK and North America's Pacific Northwest.
While most of the kits we tested do a fine job, we are looking for those that stand out and offer something that differentiates them from the herd. This could be the inclusion of a drivetrain degreaser or cleaner and a brush or tool to agitate these with, making a big difference to the performance of your bike and the overall longevity of your components. Of course, the effectiveness of these cleaners is key also; if they merely push the grease around, thats is going to see us marking the product down.
Overall, if the kit includes the basics required to clean a bike and the cleaning products provided appear to be effective, then that will result in that product getting a decent score. We will, of course, also increase scores based on additional areas covered. For example, if a cleaner is PH-neutral or makes eco-claims, assuming the brands can back that up with sufficient data or evidence.
For more on how we test products, you can read our full guide and learn a bit more about our scoring system and, of course, the Cycling Weekly testing team.
To help you select the right bike cleaning kit for you, here are few areas you’ll want to consider:
Specifications
Bike cleaning kits range from those containing the basics to others far more comprehensive in their offering. You’ll want to match the kit to your requirements. A comprehensive kit is a good option if you’re starting from scratch. However a more basic kit might be better suited to those who are just needing to replace a few items in their existing kit.
Eco-credentials
Not all cleaners and degreasers are biodegradable. Check the labels before you buy if you want to use products that are kinder to the planet.
Fragrance
If you’re planning on cleaning your bike regularly, which we suggest you do, then you’ll want to use cleaning products that are pleasant in their smell. Like choosing a perfume or aftershave, this is entirely subjective, but finding a cleaner and degreaser with a pleasing scent does make the chore of cleaning your bike a little less arduous.
Price
As shown in this guide, bike cleaning kits vary greatly in price. Comprehensive kits from the big players will always cost more, and we’d generally say that you get what you pay for. However, there are a number of budget kits that have proved to be effective in our testing, ensuring that you can still clean your bike without breaking the bank.
Cleaning your bike needn't be complicated; like anything, once you start getting into the details, it becomes a bit of a task. However, the basic principles and process of cleaning your bike are very simple, and you need very few things to do it effectively. For those who are interested, we have a full guide on how to clean your bike, but it really is as simple as these five steps:
As mentioned above, you need very little to clean a bike effectively. However, like with so many bicycle tools, such as the best bike multi-tools or chain cleaners, you can get lost in the broad range of available choices. Of course, it is nice to have tools to make your life easier or speed up the process, and certainly, there are a few things out there that can help, like a Jetwasher/Garden Hose, a chain cleaning tool or even an airline for blowing away any water residue. Really, you need these 5 very basic items:
It's totally up to you. If you like a clean-looking bike, then you can clean it as regularly as you like. Assuming you don't regularly jetwash, it shouldn't increase the maintenance cycle or more complex service areas like bottom brackets or headsets.
I am, however, very much an advocate of not washing my bike too often, partly due to having been a bike mechanic for many years and spending most of my working days cleaning others' bikes. When I do clean, I tend to focus on the drivetrain; a little dirt or mud on my frame and wheels will make very little difference. However, the efficiency of your drivetrain can have a big impact, not just on your pedalling, but also on the frequency with which you will need to replace parts if you don't keep them clean.
Often a bike cleaning kit will contain one or more brushes. Bikes are full of awkward-to-reach nooks and crannies - around the drivetrain, brakes and behind the bottom bracket are particularly awkward to get to. A collection of brushes to get to these places is useful, but even one purpose-designed brush will go a long way. A chain cleaning device is also really handy to make keeping your chain clean that bit easier.
Be careful not to use a brush you've used on your drivetrain on your frame afterwards, or you'll end up with hard-to-remove oil stains on your frame. So keep a brush that's only used for cleaning your derailleurs or expect to give it a thorough clean before using it elsewhere on your bike.
Yer, sure. Why not? We can't stop you, but we heavily advise that you don't.
While dish soap or washing-up liquid is a great cleaner and reasonably friend to your skin, it's formulated in a very different way to dedicated bicycle cleaners. Generally speaking, it's not designed to remove the stubborn grease and oils found on bicycles, but they also tend not to be very kind to metal things, specifically coated surfaces.
For more buying advice in cycling, check out our guides on the best bike storage solutions, best puncture repair kits or best handlebar tape.