A friend I met here originally on BF is a car mechanic in his day job. He's also a bike nut, and he has remarked that his hands get far dirtier working on bikes than on cars. So yeah, it can be pretty annoying. I wear an apron when I work on bikes, and I keep rags around to wipe my hands. Then I wash them with Dawn dish soap and a mild scouring pad. That gets my hands clean. Keeping my clothes clean is a combination of skill of where to place my body and wearing an apron and still having occasional mishaps where I ruin an article of clothing. Oh well, it's the price of my hobby.
Way back in 1981, I was touring in France by myself. The woman at one of the bike shops in the country sold me a bottle of paraffin oil. It wasn't like anything I have seen here, and I wonder if it's available here. Maybe that's what you use, @
cyccommute. It was colorless and had low viscosity, and it did lube my chain and stay clean. Is that what you use? If so, I'll definitely try it again. Interestingly, I think I was served by old women at at least two shops. They really knew their stuff, and there was no one else in the shop at the time, so she may have been the biggest resident expert in all things bike. But that was a long time ago. I have no idea what it's like in the industry there now. Probably even better.