i have 6" shamano mechanical brakes, and i was wondering how to clean them and how often?

Clean the rotors with isopropyl alcohol. ITs really cheap, like 99 cents for a bottle cheap. And wipe down the pads with an paper towel soaked with the alcohol. This stuff leaves no residue so its ideal, and it evaporates quickly./

I prefer Denatured Alcohol.

Enlighten me - what is denatured and whats the difference?

Denatured alcohol is ethanol with added adulterants that make it useless for consumption but still useful for industrial processes. There are diverse industrial uses for ethanol, and therefore literally hundreds of recipes for denaturing ethanol. Typical additives are methanol, isopropanol, methyl ethyl ketone, denatonium benzoate, and even aviation gasoline.

In this sense of the word, denatured means "a specific property of ethanol, its usefulness as a beverage, is removed". The ethanol molecule is not denatured in the sense that its chemical structure is altered.

Denatured alcohol is taxed differently than drinkable alcohol.

So Isypropyl Alcohol is denatured?

No, but I damn sure wouldn't drink it. Also most of the Isopropyl Alcohol on the market sold as "Rubbing Alcohol" is a 70-20 mix of Isopropyl Alcohol and water

I prefer a little on the wild side. Laquer thinner or acetone. They evaporate near instantly and will take anything shy of rust off. I do reccomend rubber gloves when handling it, as it can dry the skin(same action).