Advice on washing woodwork before painting

Helmac

I've previously used sugar soap to wash woodwork prior to painting but find it seems to need loads of rinsing - though it could just be that I'm too obsessive about making sure it is all rinsed away. This could stem from a time I noticed faint slightly coloured streaks when the woodwork had dried (I didn't start painting for several days later) and presumed I hadn't rinsed sufficiently.

What alternative can anyone suggest to sugar soap. And any advice on just now much rinsing is really necessary - I seemed to spend hours the last time I used it!

eco-friendly_2

If you can tolerate the smell, white spirit is good for cleaning woodwork.

googler

Sand it, then wipe with warm water.

If you sand ALL of it, that'll get it clean....

I've used sugar soap wipes from BQ, they seem to do OK. When you got the stripes in the paint, were you applying an undercoat, AND a gloss coat, or just the gloss?

Hitch

I always do a bit of sanding then a good wipe down with white spirit to get any dust off. Leave it an hour or so just to make sure any residue has evaporated.