Whenever I rebuild a bike my pet hate is cleaning wheels, its time consuming and awkward. You won't get a better result than stripping them down and rebuilding with new spokes, and it makes cleaning the rim and hub so much easier.

If I'm not rebuilding a wheel I clean the spokes with some fine steel wool and a drop of oil on. Then a toothbrush and degreaser for cleaning the hard to get at areas like the hub and around the nipples on the rim. Then same again with a good metal polish.