I learned how to clean honed cylinders the hard way, too. On a 2,500-mile trip from California to Tennessee with a fresh re-ring job, the engine got to the point it would use 3 quarts of oil to a tank of gas. When I tore the engine down again the rings were worn to less than half their original thickness. I had scrubbed the cylinder walls with clean white rags and lacquer thinner until they came out as clean as they went in, and that still was not sufficient.
Good luck!
Jerry
