Chain maintenance is not that mysterious, but myths still abound. One of the most common myths is that the greasey goo from the factory is some kind of super lube that should not be removed. That is simply not true. While it certainly has lubricating properties, it's a dirt magnet and eventually oozes out, making a mess of the chainrings and cogs. Leaving it on doesn't hurt the chain, but it sure makes a mess and won't work any better than a good chain lube.

At the very minimum, I wipe the exterior with mineral spirits, but I also apply my homebrew lube to hasten the replacement of the goo with my normal lube.

The new Campy 11 speed chain is one of the gooiest I've ever seen. After only wiping the exterior of the first one I installed, I decided that the next one would be degreased and properly lubed before it was installed.

Another common myth is that a chain can be cleaned too well. That is also nonsense. Any lube will quickly become contaminated with road grit. With the PROPER solvent, like mineral spirits, kerosense or diesel fuel, you can soak a chain as long as you like and not harm the metal, but that should never be necessary. If possible, it's best to completely remove ALL of the old contaminated lube.

I fill an old water bottle about 2/3 full of solvent, drop the chain in, put the lid on and shake for 1-2 minutes. At that point, you've got a chain swimming in dirty solvent, so more cleaning is still needed. You could exchange the solvent for a clean batch, but I prefer to pour it out, saving it for reuse in another water bottle. I then use hot soapy water in the bottle to finish cleaning, followed by a rinse in hot water and a wipe dry. My regular home brew lube will displace any remaining water and relube the chain, if applied liberally. WD-40 will also work, but most people would later apply their regular lube in addition to the WD-40. Since WD-40 contains about 30% oil, applying another lube will result in a mixed lube for awhile. Someone will undoubtedly scream about rust, but I've never got a speck of rust with this process. If worried about rust, then just do a second cleaning with fresh mineral spirits, but always save the solvent for reuse. When the next chain cleaning is needed, carefully pour old solvent into your cleaning bottle, leaving the dirt in the bottom of the storage bottle.