Well a blind hog will find an acorn now and then....
Naptha is definitely not "Zippo Lighter Fluid"
denatured alcohol will ruin a finish faster than Naptha ever will
There is no reason to fear the water in rubbing alcohol. Water is the real cleaner here- the alcohol is just to dry things up and displace the moisture. It's how water based varnishes dry- the alcohol lifts the water out of the finish. I was told by a chemical engineer that alcohol surrounds water molecules- don't really know if that is accurate.
I’ve used denatured alcohol for years without any issues.... as I said it depends on the finish on the wood.
Best case senecio is to keep all alcohol, thinners and lighter fluids away from the wood finish.
Water maybe the “real cleaner” here, But I would tend too believe that depends on what your using for patch lube....
I don’t recall “water “ alone removing any oil based lube or wax based lube very well.
If your successful using it , keep it up!
You are right about the alcohol “drying things up” , that’s the only reason I use it.
I was told by a registered Redneck that alcohol evaporates the water....
It seems too work to me.
As far as the water based varnishes...
I wouldn’t know , I was only in the painting trade for about 40 years.
But we used very little of anything water based in the Industrial Trade.
But we did use denatured alcohol too wipe the metal surface prior to coating it.
In the Nuclear Power Industry, it seems to be good enough at removing grease,dirt,oils and even water that it was the one chemical approved for this purpose...
Use what you want , but I’ll stick with what “I’ve” had success with.