I use isopropyl alcohol and it works just fine. Be careful of what you buy however, as I found out that in the US this is known as rubbing alcohol. The difference is however, that rubbing alcohol has oils and scents
etc in it and the strength is lower as well. As such, don't use rubbing alcohol.
The alcohol that I use is 95% isorpopyl and is the same as used in the little medical wipes. It evaporates very quickly after application and I have had no issues with it damaging cables.
I think the guys in the US use denatured alcohol, but I do not know any more about it.
I don't know what is used in the UK but I am sure that if you gave a local production company a call they could tell you. You will probably have to try a local D.I.Y. store or similar to find either of these.
You can probably buy other solvents that would do the trick as well but if you do use something other than the two product I have mentioned, or a production company has suggested, I would test it on an old cable first.