Advice on something I purchased to clean thermal paste off a CPU.

[IndecentLouie]

Hi guys, I hope you are all doing well!

I recently purchased thisthisthis ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006UCJ5WQ/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza ) it's full name on amazon is
"WD-40 Specialist, Fast Drying Contact Cleaner with Smart Straw, Electrical & Electronics Maintenance, 400 ml"
I'm curious if anyone has used it to clean thermal paste off a cpu, it sounds safe anough from what i've read but my mind would be much more calmer knowing someone here has tried it.
Thanks in advance for any and all replies.
Louie.

 

[Oussebon]

I haven't. It's probably fine though I'd spray it into a bowl and use a cloth to apply it.

I tend to use an Arctic Silver Arcti clean kit as I don't need to use the stuff very often. And buying Isopropyl alcohol in the UK wasn't entirely straightforward to know what you were getting the last time I went shopping.. though may be better now.

 

[IndecentLouie]

@Oussebon That's exactly what I intend on doing, I'm also uk and was going to buy some Isoproptl but like you said it wasn't as straightforward to know exactly what I was getting and this item seemed like it would do the job.
My new cooler arrives tomorrow so I'll update on the outcome.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

I actually was looking for cleaning alcohol too last year but couldn't find any. Also ended up with the artic silver CPU cleaning set. Works fairly well and can be used multiple times.

Now with Corona there are handgells with 70% alcohol but I don't think I'd advice them lol.

 

[IndecentLouie]

Hey guys, the cleaner I used worked wonderfully.
The thermal paste didn't stand a chance!

 

[Rensje]

I actually was looking for cleaning alcohol too last year but couldn't find any. Also ended up with the artic silver CPU cleaning set. Works fairly well and can be used multiple times.

Now with Corona there are handgells with 70% alcohol but I don't think I'd advice them lol.

I think you're from the Netherlands like me, no? What I did a while ago was go to our local supermarket / pharmacy and pick up a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Put a few drops on a paper towel (keukenrol) and gently rub that on the CPU heat spreader. I prefer paper towels over cloth because it doesn't leave any dust particles.

 

[Oussebon]

There's a catch with the 'translation' for the UK with 'rubbing alcohol'. Here, rubbing alcohol usually means something called surgical spirit. Which leaves a greasy residue and you probably don't want coating your CPU(!). Even though in the rest of the world rubbing alcohol seems to usually mean isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol being a term that's not widely used in the UK at all.

Paper towels can leave fibres behind, so I tend to use microfiber cloths of the kind you'd clean lenses with.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

I think you're from the Netherlands like me, no? What I did a while ago was go to our local supermarket / pharmacy and pick up a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Put a few drops on a paper towel (keukenrol) and gently rub that on the CPU heat spreader. I prefer paper towels over cloth because it doesn't leave any dust particles.

Yes I am! Originally I was looking for that, but then the 90% variant which they should have had, but then the only simular thing I could find was jodium and I ended up buying the artic cleaner haha. That's because that alcohol is for cleaning wounds.

@Oussebon for me paper towels can either refer to toilet paper and kitchen paper haha. The last one seems to better because it's softer and doesn't fall apart as easily.