yeah, i'd say its an "outside" activity when using Ed's Red for sure - at least in my neck of the woods. i bought one of those plastic upright utility cabinets, which houses my parts bin cleaner full of, of course, Ed's....actually, i mixed up a 5 gallon container of the stuff because i use a lot of it, and its cheaper to make that way for me.
when i return from the range and break down the AR's/M-16's, i throw the bolt and carrier and charging handle in the parts cleaner. the barrel assy and lower assy get sprayed down with reds and drain on the outside workbench. i run the chamber brush and an upper receiver cleaning brush thru the gun, then spray again and let hang for a bit. wipe everything down with rags, and then blow out the last bit with compressed air. Ed's seems to dry out after a few hours, and leaves somewhat of a semi protective oil finish on the gun. it works for me....if the gun is extremely dirty, such as happens when doing a lot of suppressed shooting activities, i let the bolt and carrier soak overnight.