Originally Posted by PugRider

I am a glutton for punishment with grimy old projects--this is what I can recommend:

+1 to mineral spirits, great for bearing cages and other small parts with greasy little nooks and crannies. And +1 to small brushes, obviously. A must. Cotton swabs are great too.

--Hot water and Dawn dish soap usually gets me at least 70% of the way there on a project. Gotta be careful with stickers/decals though.

--I only recently discovered the joys of Evaporust. A truly "works as advertised" product. Although similar to the issues with ultrasonic cleaners, sometimes it helps to make sure there aren't any layers of grime on the part.

--Even though I'm sold on Evaporust, I still frequently use the old water/Barkeeper's Friend paste standby. It's a great rust remover and cleaner in general.

--And finally, I kinda feel that with all the products and methods out there, WD-40 has become overlooked in the cleaning game. It works great.