I’ve notice a difference in carb response on the stand between “old” and new. The “old” was a carb that had been sitting for 3 months. The motor fired up no problem but the carb with the new gasket kit had a much crisper throttle response.
I do a mix of all things listed. But my shine step I have switched to only 303 aerospace for plastics.
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I learned a good trick this past year. Put 2 strips of duct tape on the underside of the chain guard. After 4 days of driving, take off the tape and replace. Clean chain guard and easy to do.
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Next, I am going to duct tape the whole right rear of the go kart. 
I will let you know how it works.
I use racers tape under the engine, just wrap it around the frame, works well for me, prevents scratches.
Those Tub O’ Towels have worked really well for me in the past, doesn’t damage the powdercoat and gets all the grease/dirt/whatever off super easily.
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You guys clean the kart?
Can’t get dirty again if it’s still dirty…
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How often are you guys pressure washing them (if you do that)?
I was using that as my go to, but then when I removed the from hubs they were stuck on there so bad I literally had to use a gear puller to remove them. 
Got me thinking of all the nooks water can get into, got me second thinking the whole pressure washing situation.
Do not pressure wash your kart unless you are disassembling completely and re-assembling. You have been reading too much on Bob’s 
. If you feel the need to blast it, get you a WD40 gun and go to town.
We use something like this in a gallon of WD40 to clean it up after a rain race.
Any other week, we use a rag and some elbow grease to wipe it down.
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I would avoid pressure washing unless it’s just a bare chassis. I recently came across a product at a speed shop called Driven Speed Clean. It foams a bit but removes grease and even a little bit of rubber residue. I still prefer mineral spirits though.
Lemme tell you about the time I removed paint from my Toyota cleaning it with a pressure washer. Ouch.
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For cleaning
For making the fairings shine
Anything that’s supposed to move gets sprayed down with brake cleaner to remove the dirt/grime and then some sort of lubrication applied afterward - wd40, white lithium grease, 0w20 oil, etc.
Stationary parts get brake cleaner if they’re unpainted (engine block) or Mineral Spirits if they are painted (like chassis or bodywork). I picked up a large jug of mineral spirits and also a general purpose spray bottle to apply to the kart.
The chain and the air cleaner are the real only special requirements… The chain gets rotated through a ‘tub’ of 91 octane pump gas. Then wiped off. Cycled through the pump gas again, wiped off (this removes all the dirt)… then rolled through Automatic Transmission Fluid (this penetrates the chain deep and coats all the surfaces). Allowed to drip all off. Then chain reapplied to sprockets and then finally sprayed down with Chain lubrication.
The air cleaner is removed off the LO206 motor, sprayed out with brake cleaner. Allowed to air dry fully… then K&N filter sprayed and applied back on to Carb.
Most importantly, I also use nitrile gloves while working on the kart. Yeah, it looks stupid but good god do I love not having crap all over my hands all day long. I also change in to a pit shirt if I’m doing any kind of maintenance or setup changes that require more work than a minute. This protects my race suit and shoes from getting covered in oils and cleaners.
I also have a tub of liquid Orange Pumice hand cleaner. Doesn’t need water running water in order to work well. Cuts through most stains on your hands/arms. Then finally I wipe off all excess with Orange Pumice hand wipes.
Finally at the end of the day I also have a package of Charcoal based face cleaning rags… (baby wipes would do too) just to clean off the sweat and grime from my face and arms. Take care of your skin.
After all is put away I change out of my track clothes and in to my “civilian” clothes. Our track is an hour away from home and I don’t need to track any dirt, fluids, grime, etc in to my personal car or back home. Plus it’s nice being comfortable and not sweaty for that long drive.
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I use car soap to clean. When I started out I would use WD40, seems like a good idea until you realize that it attracts dust.
Degreaser is overly harsh IMO so I’ll only revert to it if I need to actually degrease something like a bearing carrier that hasn’t been cleaned in a long time.
Just got to do it outside, (Nerve agent, Heptane)
Basically, this is brake clean before it sucked and damaged plastics and paint. This is safe on both.
Then I hit it with Chemical Guys Hydroslick
Just use these:
Tub O Towels TW90 Heavy-Duty 10" x 12" Size Multi-Surface Cleaning Wipes, 90 Count Per Canister Amazon.com
This is how we kept the CompKarts clean when we ran them.
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As a former professional detailer pretty much everything in this thread works and is a means to an end, but it all makes me cringe.
Always use the least aggressive method possible to clean something off…even non-diluted simple green can hurt most finishes if it’s left to dwell. There are great products like Maguiars APC that you can buy a gallon of for less than $20 that will safely clean most surfaces with ease, or dilute the heck out of simple green for “dirtier” surfaces. You’d be amazed thought that if you clean regularly you don’t even need something that’s a solvent / cleaner, - a simple quick detail type of spray will clean everything back to where it was.
I may have gone a little over the top with my karts but the chassis gets ceramic coated and then I regularly clean it up with a spray product called P&S bead maker that if used regularly will keep it fresh and keep the surface slick and easy to clean every single time. Get microfibers in bulk from costco they work out to less than $1 per rag…clean the kart after each outing with a single microfiber and then either throw it out or use it for “dirty towel” duties for something else. Clean bumpers and wheels and bearing housings last so that you’re not rubbing that dirt all over the kart again.
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I owned a black 550. That thing broke me. I’m never detailing a car again. I still have swirl mark nightmares.
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Or, the simplest option, ceramic coat everything