Rat Bikes! Pub Bikes Beaters! Frankenbikes!

Cleaning's not something I'd ever trouble myself with, but If you're riding it properly you'll definitely need to maintain it
rat ≠ deathtrap...

I've been through the same journey with a bike that although I loved it as a rat, I couldn't let it rust away into nothing, so it went from

to

out of interest, did you do any internal work i.e. coating etc?