Ok to use white spirit?

You mean to clean the surface of the chip? I wouldn't use either! Most nail polish remover has colourings and other crap in it. White spirit is even worse. You need pure acetone or isopropyl alcohol.
 
I have some Akasa TIM (Thermal Interface Material) Cleaner that I bought several years ago and I normally use that which is pretty good, not sure if they still sell it.
 
bengaboy, will be interested to hear what your decision is on this as im in exactly the same position as you. as I am missing a torx-9 bit to complete my job, I am thinking i might as well try and source some acetone in town tomorrow. Besides......Whatever you dont use you can put in your fuel tank ;) thats another story

What screws and method etc are you using?
 
I have always just used antistatic wipes to clean thermal paste from CPU's etc. Does the job fine in my experience!
 
I've always used nail polish remover to get rid of thermal gunk, been doing so for well over 6 years and never had any issues.

For stubborn stuff WD40 which will break it down immediately, followed by the remover.
 
Nail polish remover does work, but it does contain colourants and other crap that leaves a residue, though it's usually not enough to make a large difference.

White spirit, however, would leave all kinds of crap and I wouldn't put it anywhere near my computer! While the results wouldn't be catastrophic, it could quite possible make the thermal paste next to worthless.
 
White spirits is designed for cleaning paintbrushes and removing paint from the hands. To stop your bristles and skin becoming dry and brittle it leaves an oily residue on the surface to help retain a certain amount of moisture.

If you use white spirits (like you have) be sure to clean the residue off afterwards with a piece of cotton wool or fibreless cloth.
 
Iso propol alcohol iirc is about the best, and it's very cheap if you buy it in reasonable size amounts (a litre costs about a tenner in the high street, cheaper online).

From memory it's the main ingredient in nail varnish remover, tim remover and what they use on the anti static wipes as the fluid.
It's also absolutely great for cleaning smoke residue off stuff that's been in a smokers house, and cleaning contacts when you've spilt sticky stuff on them (orange/coke/coffee etc).
 
Get a big can of Isopropyl Alcohol, it costs about a tenner and it lasts forever if you're using it for cleaning anything like chips. It's come in very handy having it around, not just for me, but for my friends too.
 
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