dpb & Rudy --
I have no particular objection to using off-the-shelf specialized degreasers e.g. 409, WD 40 etc for this application or any other. In fact, I think many of them probably have additives that could aid the degreasing..surfactants etc. ...but why have a product that only does one specialized task when there's another that does it and other tasks too...such as mineral spirits, which doubles as paint thinner.
However, as Phisherman pointed out above, kerosene has quite a few other uses and has many favorable properties.
I'll probably just get one small can each of kerosene and m. spirits.