Originally Posted by
gauvins
Any reason for the specific brand? (Which may not be available where we tour). You carry a small bottle with you? I'm using WD40. Considering acetone as it may be the most powerful solvent available such that a few ounces/ml would do for a long time.
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I wait until I am home to do a good cleaning. Dawn dish soap is very good on petroleum, conservationists use it to clean wildlife that get contaminated with oil spills. I would recommend against acetone, it is a very good solvent, but it can cause some plastics to dissolve. When I was in college I worked part time in a chem lab as a research assistant, I tried to clean some coffee scum out of my coffee mug and my plastic mug started to dissolve. I would certainly not want to risk it on a plastic jockey wheel. I have no clue if acetone could damage your paint, but that might be another concern. If you want to use a solvent that can cut grease after you run out of WD40, if you have any gasoline or liquid stove fuel, that would be less likely to attack plastics. Around home I often use Coleman fuel for cleaning up bearings before I re-grease them.
When I travel, I carry a small bottle of woolite soap for laundry. Did you bring any laundry soap? Shampoo that does not have a conditioner in it might also work well to cut oils, after all it is designed to cut skin and hair oils quite effectively. Shampoo however is likely less concentrated than laundry soap. I do not know which would likely be stronger, laundry soap or dish soap. But if you are traveling, you probably would want to discard any brushes you use on a cassette afterwards.
I usually use 3 oz bottles for my laundry soap, shampoo, etc. Although I usually pack it in a checked bag, sometimes I carry it in a carry on and with the TSA rules on liquids, ... ... you know what I mean.