As well thinning (works perfectly for me) as for cleaning I use pure alcohol.
In the Netherlands I can get mineral spirits. These are always colored slightly blue, and contains approx 92% (?) alcohol.
On holidays in France I get 'alchol a brûler' (alcohol to burn), which doesn't have that nasty blue coloring and contains an amount of pure alcohol which illegal to sell in the Netherlands (96%?). So: vive la France!
Only for rough work I use the blue spirits; otherwise always the french stuff. By the way: it costs approx $ 1,- per liter if I recall correctly.