I like Mr Muscle spray cleaner with Orange, works pretty well at cleaning greasy fingerprints off most things.
For more stubborn grease & dirt, I like either Jizer or Gunk, both of which are water soluble degreasing agents available from most motor factors, and paint brush to help stipple the them off. IMHO, Gunk is the more effective one at shifting dirt & grease, but if you're rinsing it off onto tarmac you need to rinse the tarmac very well as it also softens that too!
I also tried Comma TFR as recommended here before and by Andy at bosunsmate. It's quite good as an everyday cleaner when you're washing down, equivalent in use , but better than, car wash shampoo.
There is a time and place for solvent based cleaners, but I limit the use of solvent based products to small parts (e.g carb components) or for small spot areas to remove glue or something. Always in a well ventilated area away from any sources of ignition. If you're doing more than a very small amount, or in a closed space, Halfords sell a reasonable quality facemask that has repleable filter elements on it that is designed to absorb the fumes. (You have to buy the correct filter element though!)
I've never found a way to remove the barnacle feet. Tried a number of different products on my drives, in the end I either shotblasted or sanded them off. Not much good on tubes I guess.
