Bicycle Mechanics - What do you use to clean bearings?

So, I detected a grinding to gritty sound in my bottom bracket. I decided to remove my bottom bracket. Cleaned and lubed spindle and shell area. Now I want to clean and repack the bottom bracket bearings. The cups and bearing are still on the frame. I removed the bearing seals. How do I clean it to remove all the old stuff? WD40? Something else?

Thanks!,,

Kerosene or odorless mineral spirits work well. For the environmentally conscious, one of the citrus based cleaners can be used too.

OMS and air compressor works well for me.

Kerosene or odorless mineral spirits work well. For the environmentally conscious, one of the citrus based cleaners can be used too.

Those are all safe for any rubber or plastic that it may come in contact with?

A rag and kerosene.

Nice, shiny new bearings.

Nice, shiny new bearings.

Bearings are very cheap, so I second this

You can clean the races with any degreaser like simple green, mineral spirits, etc if they are very nasty. Many times just wiping them out with a rag gets them very clean on its own.

You can clean the races with any degreaser like simple green, mineral spirits, etc if they are very nasty. Many times just wiping them out with a rag gets them very clean on its own.

+1 Doesn't have to be clean enough to eat off of......

Those are all safe for any rubber or plastic that it may come in contact with?
Yes, they are.

While some like the Dollar store degreaser, I feel it is watered down. Greased Lightning, available at Ace or HD, works well for me and is much less expensive than Simple Green. About $4 for a spray bottle and about $8/gallon.