This questions is to extent the following question Should I use coca cola or baking soda + water to clean my battery clamps?. I have heard of using both Coke and baking soda to clean battery clamps and I personally used both methods and each one worked great.
During discussion on this subject with my coworkers, somebody brought up the point that myth busters tried it on their shows and came up with the following conclusion.
"Test 7 - Cola can clean battery terminals: Adam and Jamie pit cola against baking soda and a toothbrush on two dirty car batteries. They find that cola and baking soda do just about the same job, but it's hard to tell if plain water doesn't do just as good of a job. Cola doesn't do anything spectacular." (source)
So is there any point of spending money to buy special cleaner or using coke or baking soda when it should be possible just to clean it with plain water? Has anyone tried of cleaning it with plain water and does it work the same? If it does should cold, warm or hot water should be used.
When I drove semi-trucks I remember seeing some sort of grease that was always put on battery terminals. Therefore to extend original question one step further: Should any lubricants be used after cleaning it to protect it?