I have technique that is a little different - I use Dawn dishwashing liquid, cyclists like to use the stuff and I have found that simple green (I believe it is a salt) does funny things to certain metal finishes. I get the Dawn /Water combination really hot and put it into . . . . a garden sprayer. With a garden sprayer, you can pinpoint spots without water going everywhere and I like the block to be warmish to assist with the grease removal. I have also found (these are great) at the local hardware store , large mud pan liners for mixing stucco, etc. These fit right under our cars and great for all kinds of leaky work but for this application,you can catch 90% or more of your run off and then put in used oil container and then take to a recycling center. Sometimes, I will spray on and then use a brush moving top to bottom to agitate the buildup and then the grease dissolves quicker this way. I like to keep the water focused so that spray is not blasting away everywhere - much neater and if you are methodical, you will be very happy with your work and can also avoid the run off issue with the mud pan(s) underneath. I have been wanting to oil the block after things are dry and clean and again, was thinking of using a garden sprayer to give a light coat of kerosene or other and then just let it run off into a clean mud pan. I would then filter this kerosene run off and put back into a container to be reused again in the future for the next oiling - hope this helps -