I'm not in a good place to write a whole treatise on the subject, but few rules of thumb I use with neck (particularly fret) work and a brief sequence of operation. First, no matter how big a pain in the shorts, get yourself some good scissors and a roll of 3/4" or 1" wide masking tape - then tape off the neck. You don't have to do the back, just the fretboard, leaving the frets exposed.
Then, with a fresh single-edge razor held at an oblique angle (about 70° ) and at 90° to the neck, you can just shave a strip of finish off the fret, as if you were peeling a carrot. Usually takes 3 passes per fret, but let experience be your guide.
That will get you probably about 96.32% clean pretty quick, with no scratches. After than, it's just a matter of knocking off the little that's left, which you probably won't notice even if you just try to play it off. But, you can use some 3M polishing papers to get them even nicer if you'd like. I stay away from steel wool - don't even have any in the house - but whatever you use, be sure to abrade/polish from side to side on the frets - not parallel to the neck (from nut to heel).
While it's still taped up, some jeweler's rouge and a felt dremel wheel or small wad of cotton can be used for the final polish.
Unbind it, set the truss, apologize for all the abuse, then install it and string it up.
You may find you still have some buzzes here and there, but that is going to depend largely on the setup and how well you've levelled/dressed the frets.
