Cleaning latex in preparation for applying glue has two components:
Solvents help clean away residue, but are usually particular to certain types of substances that they can dissolve. For example, acetone dissolves grease and oils but not rubber cement. Water is an excellent solvent in general but useless against hydrophobic substances like greases or oils – but combine it with a surfectant (like dish soap) and it becomes excellent at degreasing.
Particles are removed by mechanical means (like a cloth or a brush). Liquid solvents help with mechanical removal because removed particles stay suspended in the liquid. Volatile liquids (like heptane or acetone) are less useful for helping with mechanical removal because they evaporate more quickly.
For a surface that has several types of residues on it, you might need several cleaning passes with different methods – for example for a repair of a heavily talced or lubed garment, you might need one pass with a detergent or acetone to remove talc and lube, and another one with heptane to remove glue residue.
Organic solvents (heptane, acetone, petroleum ether etc.) are volatile, toxic, and depress the central nervous system. You may want to consider working in a well-ventilated area and/or use a respirator for organic solvents.
This is the same solvent used in rubber cement. It is fairly volatile.
General cleaning, removing old glue residue. Not great for degreasing.
Best-Test (US, no longer being manufactured?), Bostik Cleaner 4
A popular aliphatic solvent in the industry for degreasing. Also volatile.
Degreasing. Not great for removing glue residue.
The stuff you put in your car (minus the additives.) Not to be confused with benzene (which is carcinogenic.)
Removing silicone oil, general cleaning, and degreasing. Sources indicate that aromatic solvents like petroleum ether are more suitable for removing silicone oil than aliphatic ones like acetone.
Detergents in dish soap are amphiphilic: The individual molecules have one hydrophilic (water loving) end, and one hydrophobic (water hating) end. This allows them to encapsulate hydrophobic substances (like grease or dirt) and make them easier to remove.
Soap water is an excellent cleaner for latex – in fact, it can clean latex so well that it becomes hard to work with because it sticks to itself everywhere. The downside is that water takes longer to dry than organic solvents.
Excellent for degreasing and removing particles.