Rusty Duck Black Off is the only thing that I use in cleaning. I used to"work" the hassle of hot water and soap, but after trying the black off solvent, NEVER, neverAGAIN. We all know that dreaded feeling of havinng to clean the muzzleloader after a shoot, but black off is so quick and easy, I don't dread the clean up any more. In fact, I shoot much more these days than I ever did, and I attribute it to the easy clean-up. Clean up involves simple swabbing with patches -using a properly sized jag - until they come out clean (and it won't take many). I use wet patchesto handrub/clean around breech area and nipple. During a shoot, and Iuse only sabots these days, I simply run a wet (and I mean wet) patch down and up the bore after each shot, and flip the patchonce over; Ican ram the sabot down foreach subsequentload like it was the first shot after a major clean. Black off is cheap, lasts a very long time, and I am convinced that it is the BEST solvent available. It does NOT affect ignition in any way, and I use only the ole #11 caps for ignition; never had a hang fire from a damp bore (and I am certain that it has been damp from the stuff, but it is alchohol based, so I think that it may actually help ignition). The black off is so cheap, there is no reason to NOT try it out. Black off is only a cleaner, so when storing the gun, a rust inhibitor is still necessary. Try it out, and I know that you'll like it, and it may provide you with more time to shoot, as you won'tspend as much time cleaning the smoke pole.