Does your wife use too much bleach in the whites? Later on that.
Sounds like you lube the chain with chain wax. Use that to clean the chain. Spray on wipe off. Repeat till clean. Of course having the bike positioned so the rear wheel can spin helps.
OK the bleached-rotted whites. Use those to wipe the chain wax off the chain.
Check out this pic. Never cleaned the chain (except for the above recommended technique) and it has some miles on it and the spray from Niagara Falls too! Pollen from the Skyline Drive, yellow jacket guts from Greg's arm, and gasoline ignited bonfire smoke from Pat's back yard...Yes it has round 5 to 6K miles on it.
