White spirit vs. meths vs. IPA for cleaning/preparing surfaces
You need to match the solvent to the type of material you trying to remove. Fundamentally there are polar and nonpolar molecules. Water and denatured alcohol are polar and mineral spirits is nonpolar. Oils are nonpolar, which is why oil and water don't mix. So to clean up an oily surface, you need mineral spirits. Somehow some dishwashing liquids also work (like Dawn).
YES...I know there is a LOT more to this subject, but just trying to answer the OP's question without going overboard.