Green Oil product review

Published on December 4, 2008

“Green Oil UK Limited is a family run company based in Bromley in Kent. From product ingredients, to the bottle deposit scheme, to the reclaimed packaging used for wholesale orders, being green is central to all we do.”

I had never heard of Green Oil before the London Cycle Show 2008, but i was so impressed after seeing their stand that I had to get some to test out. The guys at Green Oil agreed to send us out some of their products.

I have been testing these for a few months now, and have been impressed since the moment I received the wine box full of oil and degreaser.

Everything about the company is green, the bottles can be returned to the shop you bought them from and you will be given around 10p for the bottle, as well as recycling the bottles they use recycled paper for the labels, and of course the products themselves are created from naturally occurring oils and plant extracts to provide you with the same qualities you would expect from a quality chain lubricant without compromise. When green oil does finally come off the bike, or the bike cleaner washes away, it will fully biodegrade over time .

What surprised me most was just how green the whole company is.  The box used to send the products to me was a recycled wine box, with shredded paper as padding, and all their paper is 100% recycled.

Putting all this green stuff to the side, its down to the products themselves.

First is the chain cleaner.

With Clean Chain, you can degrease your chain without taking it off the bike. The highly concentrated formula can also be used as a refill for a 1 litre bottle of Green Clean (see further down). Simply poor a 100ml bottle of Clean Chain into an empty 1 litre bottle, then top it up with water. This will make one litre of Green Clean, our 100% natural bike cleaner.
The chain cleaner works really well not only on your chain but on all the other parts that may have collected dirt and oil over the years. I was impressed by this as i originally thought that it wouldn’t be as good as other degreasers as it doesn’t have any of the chemicals typically used to degrease a chain. This is available for £3.60 with free UK postage from their website www.green-oil.net/shop.

Next comes “Green Clean” .

Green Clean is a 100% natural bike cleaner. Its 1 litre bottle has a trigger spray, giving you a choice of a wide spray, or ‘water pistol’ squirt. It is very simple to use, all you do is spray it on your bike and leave it for a few minutes, then wash it off (they recommend using rain water) and hey presto, your bike is clean! My dad was a big fan of this as it worked wonders on his alloys on his new BMW!

A 1 litre Green Clean bottle can be re-filled with a 100ml bottle of Clean Chain, and water. The original full bottle costs £8.10, but can be replaced with a £3.60 bottle of chain clean diluted with water that costs next to nothing. This means you save the environment and it is much more cost effective compared to other competitors that do not offer this refill possibility.

“Eco grease” costs only £4.10 for a 100ml bottle and is the only one I can not comment on much. This is because i have only used it on my pedal threads to keep them from locking up, but it works fine for that!

Ecogrease contains no petroleum, and no Teflon.  Ecogrease does contain a small quantity of African bee’s wax, but the rest is a blend of 100% plant extracts provided by nature.

Eco grease is designed for bearings, and bike parts you don’t want to seize up, like quick release pins or seat posts. Greases are not usually used on bike chains as they are thicker and can attract dirt and grime when on a chain.

Last but definitely not least comes Green Oil the wet chain lube. The non-irritant, non-hazardous formula is suitable for on and off-road riding and all riding conditions, but is definitely not one for you and your partner off the bike… Green Oil contains no solids like wax, Teflon, graphite or plastic, or any environmental nasties. The oil is definitely one of the better chain oils I have used and is super long lasting. The only thing i would say about it is its definitely a winter lube as it is a wet lube, so attracts..or attracted dusts in the single dry ride i have been on… This meant that i HAD to degrease, wash and then relube the chain to keep my drive train running smoothly. Green oil definitely doesn’t compromise quality for environmental goodness. At £5.20 for a 100ml bottle it is fairly cheap for a cycle specific lubricant.

Overall i would give the products a 9/10 but as a whole i would give the company a 10/10 for being the first 100% eco friendly company, and it does this without compromising performance.

Green oil have officially made cycling even more environmentally friendly!