I got into "serious" cycling in the mid-1980's and initially used the squeeze bottle of 10W30 engine oil I had around for oiling anything that squeaked. Shortly thereafter, I read about hot wax and tried that for a year or so. It was super clean but not at all durable. By then some of the "bike specific" chain lubes were on the market and I probably tried a half dozen different ones looking for clean, durable and easy to apply. After much experimentation I concluded there was no magic lube and settled on a home made Mobile 1/OMS 1/3 mix and have been using it ever since.