Thanks for the great feedback.

So, what I come away with (unless someone pops in with really innovative input) is that min spirits (which I don't have any of at the moment) would be the best, but nothing all that wrong with WD-40 (which I do have). Let dry (no alcohol needed), wipe down and grease. Nice to eliminate 1 step.

Brings up another related question (not to hijack my own thread any suggestions/experience/cautions abt using more environmentally-safe cleaners/degreasers (i.e. citrus-based)?