Ok. I have a natural hatred of CLP. I spend most of my time in the desert. CLP is the worst thing to ever happen to the US soldier.
Open it up, wipe most of the parts down with hoppes #9 The only pain is the gas tube and the area behind the chamber where the locking lugs are. Use a chamber brush with some hoppes to loosen up any debris, then either use the "chamber maid" those wipes designed to fit inside the locking lugs, or wipe it out with a patch wrapped around a brush. Clean out the gas tube with really long pipe cleaners soaked in hoppes. I usually just run my bore snake through the bore.
When cleaning the bolt/carrier assembly, dissassemble it, wipe down all parts with hoppes, then wipe clean. Avoid lubricating inside the carrier, as any lubricant in here will be flashed into carbon rather quickly and will just have to be removed later. If you are obsessive about lubrication, use a little bit of high temperature moly or lithium grease just on the area in front of the pressure rings (that little high spot). For the rest of it, wipe it out with hoppes, and then wipe with a clean rag, all you want is a very very TINY amount of surface oil to prevent corrosion NOTHING ELSE!
Wipe the bolt down with hoppes, brake cleaner works, but you must put some oil back on it afterwards otherwise it will rust. Clean out the firing pin well with a pipe cleaner soaked in hoppes, then wipe clean with another pipe cleaner (once again, minimize oil in here, otherwise crud will build up). Brush the bolt face with a plastic tooth brush (or one of the ones that comes in the M16 cleaning kit).
Wipe the firing pin down with hoppes, then wipe clean. Same should be done for the retaining pin, and cam pin.
Wipe carrier down with hoppes, then wipe clean. I use just a tiny tiny bit of lithium grease on the bearing surfaces (sides of the key, and two rails on bottom of carrier). Be sure to get a large rag, or a shotgun mop and wipe out the upper reciever, then wipe clean. (just hosing it out with brake cleaner works, as this is an aluminum part which won't corrode. Just be sure to put a drop of oil (or hoppes) on the forward assist.
This should take 15 minutes, maybe an hour if you dissassemble and soak the parts. For the most part, I only clean every other time I go shooting, or sometimes ever other other time. The AR-15 is a pretty stable platform and doesn't require as much cleaning as some people say it does. The big problem I have found is that when you over-lubricate the lubricant attracts dirt and grit which quickly foul up the gun resulting in all kinds of problems.
The reason I recommend hoppes is it meets the definition of a cleaner/lubricant/protectant, however the stuff they sell as CLP is garbage. Hoppes will dry after a fairly short period of time, leaving a thin coat of lubricant/protectant behind. Once dried it won't pick up dirt, the CLP stuff perpetually attracts dirt, and rarely dries. It is also hard to apply in small amounts often leading to over-lubrication.
Another thing to avoid is using dental tools to pick out carbon build ups. Always use toothpicks. Toothpicks being made of crappy wood will never mar your finish, scratch anything, or cause wear.
If you really don't like cleaning, why don't you just get a bore snake, and dip it in some hoppes, and run it through a few times after every shooting session, and not worry about cleaning it until it starts having problems. Find out how long that interval is. Back when I shot competitively, the only reason to clean a gun was because it wasn't holding group or wasn't functioning properly. It usually worked out to one good cleaning per year.
