Watch cleaning solution.

What type of machine are you using?

Many swear by the commercial solutions made by the machine makers.

I learned the secret formula. Which is in the old books. The active ingredient is something called oxolic acid. Something only sold raw in bulk.

Oxolic acid is however the main ingredient in Murphy's oil soap. Which is a wood cleaner. The other ingredients are acetone and ammonia. Water is used to thin this down. Alcohol can be used as a drying agent after a distilled water rinse. One has to be careful of alcohol as it can loosen pallet jewels which are set in shellac.

I made a mistake recently of adding vinegar, Such turned the cleaner brown through some sort of organic reaction.

Homemade solution is light sensitive and will turn green after a few days. I notice commercial solutions often also have this tint. Smells the same.

Like any recipe, It is more than the ingredients. How they are mixed together is what makes the bread rise or not.

The nice thing about mixing ones own, is that only enough needs to be made for the tasks at hand.

For a reactive solvent I use Naptha. Which is dry cleaning fluid. The old books call this Benzene. There is also something called Benzine. Heptain was rubber cement solvent used in the press industry. This is sold as electrical contact cleaner in spray pressurized cans. This evaporates quickly. Naptha is no longer sold here in stores. Goof off is acetone which will melt crystals so be careful when experimenting with hardware store solvents. The thing is that the solvent must have high VOCs to work. Which is a bad thing when there are a million furniture finishers in the Los Angeles basin.

Ironically inks are also a mix of oils and solvents, Probably why the cleaners are the same thing.

How about a watchmaker?

I use L & R Extra Fine cleaner, and #3 L & R rinse. I have never contemplated using concentrate water based cleaners, or water as a rinse, for use on any watch or clock.

Same here.