All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs. When
you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it.
Well, I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a
local PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
available on Amazon and ebay, however.

Before I order, I wonder if this stuff is the same as surgical spirits,
or white spirits. I can get those.

What do the bench-men use? Washing-up liquid? Vodka? Saliva?
Is 99.9% proof alcohol necessary?

Ed

Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:

> All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs.
> When you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it. Well, I've called
> in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a local PC repair
> shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands available on
> Amazon and ebay, however.

Why bother ordering and waiting when you can visit your local pharmacy.
A grocery store will have it in their health section: same place you
find first-aid products, like bandages and hydrogen peroxide. Walmart,
Target, etc have iso, too.

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/e712e28e-9a2c-423a-933d-bcadbbbd899a_1.5f2ab9ee8535ffce537e6fd7c7397e59.jpeg

When it dries, no residue is left behind. Some folks say to use wood
alcohol, ethanol, or methanol, but those leave a residue. Don't get any
isopropyl that has additives, like wintergreen which is an oil used for
messages. While there is 91% isopropyl alcohol available, the more
common and cheaper 70% works just fine, but dries a bit slower.

While many videos show using an ear swab for applying and cleaning, you
need those that are tightly wound, not those that are loose and shred to
leave behind cotton fibers. The fluffy and flexible ones are good for
cleaning out your ears but will shread more easily. Get the tight ones
that you might've bought once, but figured they were too hard on your
ears and didn't clean as well. You don't even need ear swabs. You can
buy the iso swabs, like those you see the nurse use before she shoves in
the needle, or used by diabetics before they prick their finger (e.g.,
https://pics.drugstore.com/prodimg/484221/900.jpg). The prep swabs are
only about 1" square, so not useful for disinfecting your hands. Have a
handful of foil packets ready, as they're right-sized for cleaning
thermal paste off CPUs and heatsinks. When one gets dirty, start with a
new one. Prevents you from using a contaminated portion of an ear swab
or paper towel.

The old thermal paste may be harder to remove because it dried out.
Just keep applying iso to soften and wipe off. New paste should come
off right away, but you need to ensure the surface is thoroughly clean.

By the way, why don't you already have some isopropyl in your first aid
supplies? How do you disinfect cuts and wounds?

Besides using it to clean thermal paste and disinfect cuts, it can
sometimes work to remove glue residue when you peel off stickers. If
iso doesn't work, I use Goo Gone, and then follow with an iso swab to
get rid of the citrus oil.

Pharmacy item. On the shelf (covid permitting) in US.
Should be the same in UK.

On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:32:00 +0100, Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk>
wrote:

>All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs. When
>you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it.
>Well, I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a
>local PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>
>Before I order, I wonder if this stuff is the same as surgical spirits,
>or white spirits. I can get those.
>
>What do the bench-men use? Washing-up liquid? Vodka? Saliva?
>Is 99.9% proof alcohol necessary?
>
>Ed

I used isopropyl alcohol to clean Ampex mag tape heads on mainframes
every day for about 3 years. It worked very well. When I moved onto
small computers I still used it. I would still be using it if I needed
to clean my Samsung portable but it doesn't get dirty inside as it has
no air cooling.

Steve

--
Neural Network Software http://www.npsnn.com
JustNN Just a neural network http://www.justnn.com
SwingNN Prediction software http://www.swingnn.com
EasyNN-plus Free by email from steve@easynn.com

On 8/30/21 8:48 AM, this is what VanguardLH wrote:
> By the way, why don't you already have some isopropyl in your first aid
> supplies? How do you disinfect cuts and wounds?
>
> Besides using it to clean thermal paste and disinfect cuts, it can
> sometimes work to remove glue residue when you peel off stickers. If
> iso doesn't work, I use Goo Gone, and then follow with an iso swab to
> get rid of the citrus oil.
>
When Covid hit and so many people were having issues with 'where is the alcohol?' I wondered the same thing. I checked and sure enough, I
had a almost full bottle in the cabinet. I use KT Tape and it's great to clean the skin before taping, so I always have a bottle (or two)
around.

--
Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.2 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570 laptop
Quad Core i7-8550U, 16G Memory, 512G SSD, 750G & 1TB HDDs

Ed Cryer wrote:
> All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs. When
> you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it.
> Well, I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a
> local PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
> available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>
> Before I order, I wonder if this stuff is the same as surgical spirits,
> or white spirits. I can get those.
>
> What do the bench-men use? Washing-up liquid? Vodka? Saliva?
> Is 99.9% proof alcohol necessary?
>
> Ed

I drive up the road and get some at the Drug Store.

The Rexall has 70% and 99% and I get the 99% isopropyl.
Usually, drug stores have 500ml bottles. The Other Drugstore
has 70%.

It is compatible with integrated circuit packages.

If you're planning on splashing it around, then I'd work
outdoors, and... don't smoke. I would normally apply it
to a cloth in small quantities when cleaning with it,
which is why 500ml lasts a while. If you were going to
fill a foot square ultrasonic bath with it, then I'd probably
take that outside onto the (stone) patio.

As for cleaning heatsinks, it is "kinda" a solvent, but it
is not really the correct solvent for the job. The paste
would smear, and the cleaning cloth does most of
the work, and the isopropyl is a minor contributor
once most of the bulk paste is gone. For example, the
Intel phase change compound, you practically have
to scrape that stuff off (would help if you heated it
I suppose, just not with a flame). The isopropyl
is a "cleaner" in these cases, like spitting on it
would be a cleaner :-/

*******

They make a pair of tiny solvent bottles for cleaning
heatsinks. One is the cleaning solvent. The second
bottle is the "purifier" for removing residue, so the
job looks reasonably clean and tidy. It's sorta as
effective as using the right solvent for cleaning
Rapidograph pens (the right stuff, works a treat).
These would not be a "smear-fest" like isopropyl would be.
But isopropyl is also miles-cheaper.

ACN-60ML (a pair of bottles)

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1138/6172/products/s-l500_0e2a5989-26ef-498f-bd2a-b9b7e525325b_1024x1024.jpg?v=1554398163

The price on that is around ten bucks, the same price
as a large tube of paste would be. It's only
solvents after all, and it is not as valuable
as gold. The site I got that picture from, wanted
ridiculous money for it (3 times the correct price).

If you found the MSDS for those two bottles, you might
be able to locate commercial quantities at a better
price. For example, D-Limonene might be a familiar
orange coloured cleaner for sticky labels (Monoterpene
Limonene?). The only trouble with such materials, is
it's a bit greasy and then needs cleaning with "something
else" to get the limonene off :-) And then, perhaps,
that is the purpose of the second bottle. Considering
the cost of these, your cleaning rag still does most
of the work.

*******

Product Code: ACN1 (ArctiClean Step 1 Thermal Material Remover)
SECTION 2: COMPOSITION/INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS
Product Ingredient Information CAS No.

D-Limonene 68647-72-3
Methyl Esters of Soybean Oil 67784-80-9
Non-Ionic Surfactant 68603-25-8

*******

Product Code: ACN2 (Surface purifier)
SECTION 2: COMPOSITION/INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS
Product Ingredient Information CAS No.

Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether 34590-94-8
Azole-Triazole Inhibitor Proprietary
Proprietary Inhibitor (non-Hazmat, TSCA listed) Proprietary

The inhibitors may be present, to enhance
shelf life or something.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di%28propylene_glycol%29_methyl_ether

"It finds use as a less volatile alternative
to ... other glycol ethers."

Anyway, that's an alternative means of removal.
A small computer store won't be using something that
pricey for cleaning... unless they could get
gallon jugs from somewhere else.

I've not wasted time experimenting with cleaners.
As long as I didn't need to get my metal file
out to scrape the stuff off, I was pretty happy.

Paul

VanguardLH wrote:

> Ed Cryer wrote:
>
>> I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a local
>> PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>> available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>
> Why bother ordering and waiting when you can visit your local pharmacy.
> A grocery store will have it in their health section: same place you
> find first-aid products, like bandages and hydrogen peroxide. Walmart,
> Target, etc have iso, too.

Over there maybe, but over here, though it's easy to buy IPA online,
it's strangely difficult to walk into a shop and buy some, Maplin were
probably the last high-street place that sold it, maybe the O/P has an
RS trade-counter nearby?

> https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/e712e28e-9a2c-423a-933d-bcadbbbd899a_1.5f2ab9ee8535ffce537e6fd7c7397e59.jpeg
>
> When it dries, no residue is left behind. Some folks say to use wood
> alcohol, ethanol, or methanol, but those leave a residue. Don't get any
> isopropyl that has additives, like wintergreen which is an oil used for
> messages.

That's the problem with with surgical spirit the O/P asked about, it has
wintergreen and castor oil in it.

shemp13@outlook.com wrote:

> Pharmacy item. On the shelf (covid permitting) in US.
> Should be the same in UK.

Surgical spirit yes; isopropanol no.

On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:32:00 +0100, Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk>
wrote:

>All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs. When
>you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it.
>Well, I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a
>local PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>
>Before I order, I wonder if this stuff is the same as surgical spirits,
>or white spirits. I can get those.
>
>What do the bench-men use? Washing-up liquid? Vodka? Saliva?
>Is 99.9% proof alcohol necessary?
>
>Ed

I've used Goof Off to clean CPU/heatsink interfaces since the '80s.
All kinds of Intel and AMD CPUs. Never a problem. Goof Off makes the
interfaces squeeky clean, no stains, no residue I've ever been able to
identify. I bought a gallon in the late '80's and still using from it.
(Wonder if EPA has banned it? They seem to ban anything that works
good.)

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On 2021-08-30 10:00 a.m., BillH wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:32:00 +0100, Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs. When
>> you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it.
>> Well, I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a
>> local PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>> available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>>
>> Before I order, I wonder if this stuff is the same as surgical spirits,
>> or white spirits. I can get those.
>>
>> What do the bench-men use? Washing-up liquid? Vodka? Saliva?
>> Is 99.9% proof alcohol necessary?
>>
>> Ed
>
> I've used Goof Off to clean CPU/heatsink interfaces since the '80s.
> All kinds of Intel and AMD CPUs. Never a problem. Goof Off makes the
> interfaces squeeky clean, no stains, no residue I've ever been able to
> identify. I bought a gallon in the late '80's and still using from it.
> (Wonder if EPA has banned it? They seem to ban anything that works
> good.)
>

Lots of it still on Amazon/

Rene

On 8/30/21 11:00 AM, this is what BillH wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:32:00 +0100, Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs. When
>> you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it.
>> Well, I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a
>> local PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>> available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>>
>> Before I order, I wonder if this stuff is the same as surgical spirits,
>> or white spirits. I can get those.
>>
>> What do the bench-men use? Washing-up liquid? Vodka? Saliva?
>> Is 99.9% proof alcohol necessary?
>>
>> Ed
>
> I've used Goof Off to clean CPU/heatsink interfaces since the '80s.
> All kinds of Intel and AMD CPUs. Never a problem. Goof Off makes the
> interfaces squeeky clean, no stains, no residue I've ever been able to
> identify. I bought a gallon in the late '80's and still using from it.
> (Wonder if EPA has banned it? They seem to ban anything that works
> good.)
>
Isn't that stuff close to acetone?

--
Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.2 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570 laptop
Quad Core i7-8550U, 16G Memory, 512G SSD, 750G & 1TB HDDs

On 30/08/2021 04:19 pm, Big Al wrote:
> On 8/30/21 11:00 AM, this is what BillH wrote:
>> On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:32:00 +0100, Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs. When
>>> you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it.
>>> Well, I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a
>>> local PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>>> available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>>>
>>> Before I order, I wonder if this stuff is the same as surgical spirits,
>>> or white spirits. I can get those.
>>>
>>> What do the bench-men use? Washing-up liquid? Vodka? Saliva?
>>> Is 99.9% proof alcohol necessary?
>>>
>>> Ed
>>
>> I've used Goof Off to clean CPU/heatsink interfaces since the '80s.
>> All kinds of Intel and AMD CPUs. Never a problem. Goof Off makes the
>> interfaces squeeky clean, no stains, no residue I've ever been able to
>> identify. I bought a gallon in the late '80's and still using from it.
>> (Wonder if EPA has banned it? They seem to ban anything that works
>> good.)
>>
> Isn't that stuff close to acetone?
>

From the list of shops the OP tried, all should have realised he was in
the UK. IPA is not "easily available" over here. Neither is acetone,
which is no relation to IPA.
IPA = Propan-2-ol = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol i.e
an alcohol, but don't even try to drink it.
Acetone = Propan-2-one (Di-Methyl Ketone (DMK)) =
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone i.e. a ketone

--
Chris Elvidge
England

On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 07:48:22 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:
> By the way, why don't you already have some isopropyl in your first aid
> supplies?

Alcohol is alcohol when it's small chain alcohols like iso/propyl/methyl
alcohol in terms of solvent cleaning power and subsequent vaporization.

Ether would be even more useful for that, but it's less easily bought.

As someone said, most people have the little white bottle of isopropyl
alcohol next to the little brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

> How do you disinfect cuts and wounds?

They use iodine (betadine) a lot, don't they?
> Besides using it to clean thermal paste and disinfect cuts, it can
> sometimes work to remove glue residue when you peel off stickers.

Gasoline works fantastic for peeling off jar sticker goop.
Way better than acetone, which works fine but not as well as gasoline.
Just use the gasoline outside, of course, and let dry outside too.

> If iso doesn't work, I use Goo Gone, and then follow with an iso swab to
> get rid of the citrus oil.

When you consider how well gasoline works, you'll never use goo gone.

On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 09:22:50 -0400, Paul wrote:
> I drive up the road and get some at the Drug Store.

My local liquor store has handles of ethanol but at a steep markup.

On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 16:36:26 +0100, Chris Elvidge wrote:
> IPA is not "easily available" over here. Neither is acetone

Most (not all, but many) nail polish removers are mostly acetone.

bill wrote:

> Most (not all, but many) nail polish removers are mostly acetone.

Easiest way to buy acetone (in larger than nail-polish remover
quantities) is as foam gun cleaner.

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:32:00 +0100, Ed Cryer
<ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:

>All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs. When
>you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it.
>Well, I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a
>local PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>
>Before I order, I wonder if this stuff is the same as surgical spirits,
>or white spirits. I can get those.

I never heard of these two, but then again I live in the USA where
English is different!

>
>What do the bench-men use? Washing-up liquid? Vodka? Saliva?
>Is 99.9% proof alcohol necessary?

I don't think that's possible. The alchol absorbs water or something.

Well 100 proof is only 50% and that is possible, but I think you meant
99.9%. Saliva only works if you've been eating hot peppers. That will
do it.

Here they sell iirc 70% and 90% or two numbers close to those two. Last
time I bought some was 2 years ago and it was easy to find. The lower
number, which is cheaper of course. I'm not sure when one needs the
higher number.

>
>Ed

Andy Burns wrote:
> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> Ed Cryer wrote:
>>
>>> I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a local
>>> PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>>> available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>>
>> Why bother ordering and waiting when you can visit your local pharmacy.
>> A grocery store will have it in their health section: same place you
>> find first-aid products, like bandages and hydrogen peroxide.  Walmart,
>> Target, etc have iso, too.
>
>
> Over there maybe, but over here, though it's easy to buy IPA online,
> it's strangely difficult to walk into a shop and buy some, Maplin were
> probably the last high-street place that sold it, maybe the O/P has an
> RS trade-counter nearby?
>
>> https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/e712e28e-9a2c-423a-933d-bcadbbbd899a_1.5f2ab9ee8535ffce537e6fd7c7397e59.jpeg
>>
>>
>> When it dries, no residue is left behind.  Some folks say to use wood
>> alcohol, ethanol, or methanol, but those leave a residue.  Don't get any
>> isopropyl that has additives, like wintergreen which is an oil used for
>> messages.
>
> That's the problem with with surgical spirit the O/P asked about, it has
> wintergreen and castor oil in it.

This is what I use to clean almost all stubborn residue; paint, mold,
red wine spilled, glue deposits, sticker-label deposits. I've used it
for years, very available here in the UK.
https://bit.ly/38nIVtF
Will this do the job?
Ed

On 30/08/2021 05:03 pm, bill wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 16:36:26 +0100, Chris Elvidge wrote:
>> IPA is not "easily available" over here. Neither is acetone
>
> Most (not all, but many) nail polish removers are mostly acetone.
>

Ethyl acetate is common, and less dangerous.

--
Chris Elvidge
England

On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:32:00 +0100, Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk>
wrote:

>All the websites I've looked at say use it for cleaning inside PCs. When
>you separate heatsink from CPU, clean with it.
>Well, I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a
>local PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>
>Before I order, I wonder if this stuff is the same as surgical spirits,
>or white spirits. I can get those.
>
>What do the bench-men use? Washing-up liquid? Vodka? Saliva?
>Is 99.9% proof alcohol necessary?
>
>Ed

Here it is used to clean office equipment & keyboards. Anyone
servicing office equipment should have some. It can be sold by radio
shacks in 20L drums.

VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
> By the way, why don't you already have some isopropyl in your first aid
> supplies? How do you disinfect cuts and wounds?

In the UK, the go to products are Savlon or TCP. Or simply soap and water.

bill wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 07:48:22 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:
>> By the way, why don't you already have some isopropyl in your first aid
>> supplies?
>
> Alcohol is alcohol when it's small chain alcohols like iso/propyl/methyl
> alcohol in terms of solvent cleaning power and subsequent vaporization.
>
> Ether would be even more useful for that, but it's less easily bought.
>
> As someone said, most people have the little white bottle of isopropyl
> alcohol next to the little brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
>
>> How do you disinfect cuts and wounds?
>
> They use iodine (betadine) a lot, don't they?
>
>> Besides using it to clean thermal paste and disinfect cuts, it can
>> sometimes work to remove glue residue when you peel off stickers.
>
> Gasoline works fantastic for peeling off jar sticker goop.
> Way better than acetone, which works fine but not as well as gasoline.
> Just use the gasoline outside, of course, and let dry outside too.
>
>> If iso doesn't work, I use Goo Gone, and then follow with an iso swab to
>> get rid of the citrus oil.
>
> When you consider how well gasoline works, you'll never use goo gone.

But electronic components are only absolutely
safe with a few things. The more powerful a
chemical is, the more enemies it makes.

Gasoline is a blend of 200 organic compounds.
It is rather difficult to make a "blanket claim"
that gasoline is "safe" with anything!

Even if the percentage of benzene in gasoline
has been reduced, really any amount of benzene
exposure is bad for you. Because it accumulated
in your bone marrow. I would only use it outside
the house, with good ventilation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene

"Benzene is classified as a carcinogen, which
increases the risk of cancer and other illnesses,
and is also a notorious cause of bone marrow failure."

I do not use gasoline for cleaning.

Paul

Ed Cryer wrote:
> Andy Burns wrote:
>> VanguardLH wrote:
>>
>>> Ed Cryer wrote:
>>>
>>>> I've called in Currys/ PC World, Boots, Superdrug, Asda and a local
>>>> PC repair shop; and not a one has any. There are lots of brands
>>>> available on Amazon and ebay, however.
>>>
>>> Why bother ordering and waiting when you can visit your local pharmacy.
>>> A grocery store will have it in their health section: same place you
>>> find first-aid products, like bandages and hydrogen peroxide. Walmart,
>>> Target, etc have iso, too.
>>
>>
>> Over there maybe, but over here, though it's easy to buy IPA online,
>> it's strangely difficult to walk into a shop and buy some, Maplin were
>> probably the last high-street place that sold it, maybe the O/P has an
>> RS trade-counter nearby?
>>
>>> https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/e712e28e-9a2c-423a-933d-bcadbbbd899a_1.5f2ab9ee8535ffce537e6fd7c7397e59.jpeg
>>>
>>>
>>> When it dries, no residue is left behind. Some folks say to use wood
>>> alcohol, ethanol, or methanol, but those leave a residue. Don't get any
>>> isopropyl that has additives, like wintergreen which is an oil used for
>>> messages.
>>
>> That's the problem with with surgical spirit the O/P asked about, it
>> has wintergreen and castor oil in it.
>
>
>
> This is what I use to clean almost all stubborn residue; paint, mold,
> red wine spilled, glue deposits, sticker-label deposits. I've used it
> for years, very available here in the UK.
> https://bit.ly/38nIVtF
>
> Will this do the job?
>
> Ed

The MSDS says "ingest a little, then get back to us" :-/

https://www.bartoline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/BARTOLINE-White.-Spirit-SDS4652.pdf

Contains:

Hydrocarbons, C9-C12, n-alkanes, isoalkanes, cyclics, aromatics (2-25%) 100%

"White spirit is a flammable, clear, colourless liquid. It is a mixture
of chemicals known as petroleum hydrocarbons. Other common names for
white spirit are Stoddard solvent, turpentine substitute, mineral spirit
and paint thinner." [paint thinner for oil-based paints presumably...]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spirit

"mineral spirits are used for cleaning and degreasing
machine tools and parts"

So yes, it would probably interact with thermal paste.
Then, what removes all white spirit residue ?

Paul

bill <bill@spam.invalid> wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 07:48:22 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:
>> By the way, why don't you already have some isopropyl in your first aid
>> supplies?
>
> Alcohol is alcohol when it's small chain alcohols like iso/propyl/methyl
> alcohol in terms of solvent cleaning power and subsequent vaporization.
>
> Ether would be even more useful for that, but it's less easily bought.
>
> As someone said, most people have the little white bottle of isopropyl
> alcohol next to the little brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

Peroxide is seriously old school here.

>> How do you disinfect cuts and wounds?
>
> They use iodine (betadine) a lot, don't they?

Maybe 20-30 years ago, but not anymore.

We can get boxes of individual alcohol wipes, but otherwise it's antiseptic
creams or lotions.

>> Besides using it to clean thermal paste and disinfect cuts, it can
>> sometimes work to remove glue residue when you peel off stickers.
>
> Gasoline works fantastic for peeling off jar sticker goop.
> Way better than acetone, which works fine but not as well as gasoline.
> Just use the gasoline outside, of course, and let dry outside too.

Christ! It's also great at melting plastic. Keep well away from consumer
electronics. Oh, and it's dangerously flammable.

>> If iso doesn't work, I use Goo Gone, and then follow with an iso swab to
>> get rid of the citrus oil.
>
> When you consider how well gasoline works, you'll never use goo gone.
>