Car Wash HELP!

[FirstNissan]

Im at my in-laws, just finished washing my car. The bucket that my FIL gave me had a funny smell to it, almost chemical, so I rinsed it out, and used it for putting my soap in.
After Im done washing it, he tells me that he had used the same bucket to put his motorcycle chain in and submerge it in bike chain lube.
I cant find any details on the lube and whether it is ok for paint, or if I should be bolting out of the house to the car wash. HELP!

 

[Quattro Pete]

Was it a chain lube or chain cleaner? Some people clean their chain periodically by soaking it in kerosene, for example. I haven't heard of anyone who would actually bother to take the chain off the bike to lube it in a bucket every 400-500 miles as it'd be a major PITA.

Whatever was in there, assuming you rinsed to bucket before you used it, would be in such small quantity that I would not worry about it hurting your car's paint.

 

[FirstNissan]

I found a spray bottle with a green chemical in it, slightly fruity smell, and it is diluted in water. I am leaning on the side of chain cleaner.
Is this bad?

PS. FIL is at work and unreachable, hence the 100 questions!

 

[SLCraig]

You rinsed it out then put carwash in it... I can't see how it could end up posing a problem. Especially if the car looks good and the carwash soap worked well when applied..

 

[GMBoy]

Sounds like the bottle you found may be Simple Green cleaner. You can use it straight or dilute to your needs. I think you are okay - if it was something really bad - you would notice it when cleaning the bucket out as well as seeing a film on the bucket and car. If he was using lube, the worst thing would be a slimy greasy film on the car - which you'd have to wash off. If the car looks fine -you should be fine.

 

[stang5]

could have been worst like a commode bucket...

 

[bepperb]

I also think it was simple green, and that you've already wasted too much time on this.

Asking for a detailed history of a buckets uses wouldn't impress me much. Calling me at work for that would put you on the list of people who can't get things done.

 

[dparm]

Just wash the car again with dish soap. That should strip any residue leftover, if there even was any.

 

[FirstNissan]

I ended up taking the car to a local car wash. 1st wash got me too tired to hand wash again. Kinda annoyed about this whole fiasco. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[bigmike]

Will simple green strip the wax? I'm leaning towards yes, but who knows how much actually got on the paint. If determined to be so, I'd probably start deciding soon on prepping the paint for a wax job.