Well, since Darcy hasn't jumped in yet, I'll get the ball rolling. I clean my tools only when they need it, not when I want them to look shiny. For instance, I'm a nut about cleaning saw blades, but I don't give a darn if there's dust on the plastic housing of the saw. I'll clean and polish cast iron tables, and clean handtools that are prone to rust, but what's a little dust among friends? I do the shiny clean thing for two reasons: 1)the tool is about to be listed on craigslist or 2) I'm gonna be on the cover of Fine Woodworking - needless to say, #2 hasn't come up yet [embarassed]. Since I'm darn sure I ain't never selling the TS55, I have magic marker notes on it (e.g., depth settings for 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 inch stock).
Now this would all be different if I worked at customers' homes or they came to my shop - then it makes sense to look neat. But as a hobbyist, I generally clean up when it starts to get hard to find things [smile].
There are lots of cases like armor-all where cleaning can cause harm. Be careful guys using that compressed air, especially around bearings - it can compress that dust right into where you really don't want it. And, Wonderwino, unless they have changed the formulation, Pledge has silicone in it, which can interfere with spraying a lacquer finish.
On the other hand, Paul Marcel and Brice just convinced me to order a WCR, Paul Marcel had me hooked with all the customization you can do, but when I saw Brice with a perfectly clean MFT, that cinched it.
