I used to use a wet sponge until someone showed me a Hakko cleaner. It looks like brass turnings off a metal lathe. Works well, and you don't need water. Along the same line, a friend used his pants as a cleaner. Occasionally the tip would stick and he'd burn them, but it did work.
At one time I used a Metcal iron, its like another major step above the Wellers. Wow did it work well for both solder and desolder, but it was insanely expensive $1200US. As their were tips for each type of IC package for desoldering. One could remove a 68pin fine pitch device without damage in around a minute and that included the time to change tips and reheat.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
At one time I used a Metcal iron, its like another major step above the Wellers. Wow did it work well for both solder and desolder, but it was insanely expensive $1200US. As their were tips for each type of IC package for desoldering. One could remove a 68pin fine pitch device without damage in around a minute and that included the time to change tips and reheat.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]