Rusty chain inspite of cleaning,lubing

[GirishH]

Hello, I was going to ask this question in @Flowrider’s post, but since this is a slightly different issue, I decided to start a new post.

https://forums.bikeride.com/thread-9267.html

I’m nowhere near the ocean, so salt-related rusting isn’t a concern. I’m currently in the ninth month of a long bikepacking trip, and sometimes I stay in one place for a week or longer. During this week or longer break, I rarely used my bicycle. Since I have a quick-release chain, I remove it, rinse it with whatever soap I can find, scrub off the grime, wash it, and then dry it. After reinstalling the chain, I lube it. Right now, I’m carrying Muc-Off dry weather lube. Please note, I have limited space, so I can’t carry all the cleaning tools or soaps I’d have at home or in a city. The nearest bike shop is about five hours away..:-(

I went for a ride the other day, after nearly a month. I lubed the chain before heading out. It wasn’t a particularly wet ride, but when I returned, I noticed the chain looked much rustier than before. I’m trying to understand if I did something wrong and how to avoid this rust.

Yesterday, I hosed down the entire bike and cleaned the chain. This time, I didn’t remove the chain, but just scrubbed off as much rust as I could with an old toothbrush, then applied lube after the chain had dried completely.

Do you recommend that I remove the chain, soak it in soapy water, scrub off any rust, rinse thoroughly, and then lube it once it’s completely dry?

Any tip is helpful.