The present invention relates to water-rich formulations and the method using same, to remove bulk photoresists, post-etched and post-ashed residues, residues from Al back-end-of-the-line interconnect structures, as well as contaminations. The formulation comprises: hydroxylamine; corrosion inhibitor containing a mixture of alkyl dihydroxybenzene and hydroxyquinoline; an alkanolamine, a water-soluble solvent or the combination of the two; and at least 50% by weight of water.