Well, most of my more intense maintenence problems have been with mountain bikes that do a lot of mud and water time, and I used to just destroy chains. White Lightening has worked incredibly well for me, but then every body is different, different terrain and climates, different types of riding, different expectations and standards. I haven't ridden much in the last few years due to injury myself, but parrafin lube really impressed me and made my life a lot easier for a number of years. My chains stayed in much better shape and shed dirt instead of eating it. Environmental water is unavoidable, and good chain lube should protect from that. Dumping more water on with a hose or water based degreaser just strikes me as an aggravant to the problem- I use petroleum based products for moving parts, period. If not parrafin then Park grease. You don't see that Simple green or Citrus stuff in good LBS mechanics room. I asked one of my mechanics, who has stellar credentials (fighter jets, team mechanic, ect) about all that stuff and he laughed, said the only water based thing good for bikes is beer. This has been my experience as well.
So, whatever works for you. Everybody should go with their own comfort level- this is mine.

missliz