The Advanced Photon Source (APS), presently under construction, will produce x rays of unprecedented brightness. The storage ring where the x rays will be produced will be constructed from an extruded 6063 aluminum alloy, while transition pieces (flanges, etc.) will be made from a 2219 aluminum alloy. In addition, cooled photon absorbers will be placed in strategic locations throughout the ring to intercept the majority of the unused high power-density radiation. These will be made of either CDA-101 (OFHC) copper or glidcop (a dispersion strengthened copper alloy). Before any of these components can be assembled they must be cleaned to remove surface contaminants so that the ultrahigh vacuum (<0.1 nTorr) necessary for successful operation can be achieved. Many recipes for cleaning aluminum and copper exist; however, most of them involve the use of chemicals that present safety and/or environmental concerns. We have undertaken an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of the effects of a variety of commercially available cleaners on the surface cleanliness of aluminum and copper. Several important results have been identified in this study. A simple alkaline detergent in an ultrasonic bath cleans aluminum alloys as effectively as the more aggressive cleaning solutions. The detergent can be used at 65-degrees-C to clean the 6063 alloy and at 50-degrees-C to clean the 2219 alloy. A citric acid based cleaner was found to be effective at cleaning copper, although the surface oxidizes rapidly. To date, we have been unable to find a universal cleaning procedure, i.e., one that is optimal for cleaning both Al and Cu.