Can I use this for cleaning thermal paste?

[jakem_00]

I can’t get isopropyl alcohol from near me and I have got these wipes that contain 6% benzocaine and 60% SD alcohol can I use them?

 

[jeffredo]

Rubbing alcohol is one of the most common things in any store (grocery, drug - whatever). Not to mention being ubiquitous its also dirt cheap. If you really can't get alcohol the first aid wipes would probably work alright, but after removing the old TIM I'd use a wet cloth to get the residual benzocaine off the surface.

 

[Stephen_102]

Its fine. As long as it removes all the thermal compound. If there are minute traces of other substance on the surface of the CPU, there should be no observable difference in the cooling performance

 

[Stephen_102]

you can actually use a dish-washing soap + distilled water or alcohol for rinsing (do not use tap water). I did this to my Samsung 960 Evo NVME SSD when I made a mistake in using an arctic silver and it got in contact with the chip terminals. I've decided to use it as Alcohol alone does not remove the thermal compound residue from the rough surface of the NAND chip. I also used a soft artist brush to brush off the remaining arctic silver compounds from the tiny NVME circuits.