I use a rag (old t-shirt section is best…not a towel- leaves lint.)damp with citrus cleaner, hold it in my left fist surrounding the bottom section of chain (still on the bike), then loosely drag it back and forth down the 8″ or so length. When you drag toward the rear axle, the chain stays put and that’s when the wiping occurs. When you drag toward the crank, the freewheel lets the chain move so you advance it to the next section. Be careful not to knock the chain off the chainring during advancing. So I do this ratcheting thing several rotations of the chain, flipping the rag for a new clean spot until no more gunk comes off. Then a 1-lap wipe down with another rag or good paper towel, then tri-flow in left hand on all the chain plates and rollers while reverse cranking with right hand, then 1 final wipe to remove the excess Tri-flow.
You can use a similar ratcheting technique with a rag strip like t-shirt neck band to clean the greasy debris from between the sprockets.
