How do you clean a heatsink from fingerprints etc.?

Hi. So im an idiot and thought that i could remove the foul fingerprints of my heatsink that i conveniently placed there
and i thought that while i was cleaning my gpu heatsink and processor from thermalpaste with a fine paper kinda looking thing wet with Red liqour or how you say it the us or how google translate says Methylated spirits o.O
and it works amazingly for cleaning so you can attatch a heatsink. my temps are awesome.
But my heatsink got theese beautiful rainbow looking things on it.. and now it looks even worse than before.. What do i do?
How do i clean a heatsink?

Hello sisrace,

I like using rubbing alcohol and Q-tips. :)

If the heatsink is made out of aluminum, then you could also use a good nonflammable aluminum polish to buff out the bad spots.

Brink said:

Hello sisrace,

I like using rubbing alcohol and Q-tips. :)

If the heatsink is made out of aluminum, then you could also use a good nonflammable aluminum polish to buff out the bad spots.

I will see if i have some rubbing alcohol. if not what is the prize on the stuff?

Rubbing alcohol is cheap. You can usually get it at any drug store for under $3.

It varies for aluminum polish, but it's doesn't cost much. You should be able to get it at any store that also sells other types of polish.

Also quick note. I have been using "Methylated spirits" as my heatsink and cpu cleanance. I have looked on some forums and it seems to work if you do it right. It can be hard to get it completely clean. And they said wait about 15 minutes after cleaning before applying thermalpaste and put on the cooler. I just waited until it had evaporated and put it on.. that took some seconds. Im starting to feel a bit nervous that if my computer reaches a certain temp that the may still existing "Methylated spirits" will kinda. i dont know catch fire? It will look cool but it wont be cool.. Should i worry about this or what?
Im getting myself some isopropyl alcohol for future use but i had to use that stuff becouse i didt have anything else..

Also for cleaning anything computer related what should i use to clean with? Right now im using This:


its kinda good but if you use it more than a couple of drags and/or it comes over a sharp hole like that heatsink has on the picture it tends to leave some bits of stuff on the surface.

Methalyatetet thingy if you dont know what it is:


And also.. Wow.. your an admin! i bow for you allmighty master!

Methylated spirits, or denatured alcohol (ethanol) in US, is good to clean with as well since it's alcohol based. Just be sure to not get any on your skin.

You would definitely want to make sure it is dry and has evaporated before powering up the computer. Otherwise, yeah you could literally have a flaming heatsink.

The aluminum polish may help with buffing out that rainbow affect on the metal.

ignatzatsonic said:

The geekish thing to use for a cleaning cloth is coffee filters. They are lint-free and won't leave any fabric behind.

I wouldn't agonize over the finer points of all of this. Just use alcohol and a clean cloth or Q-tips or coffee filters. I wouldn't worry at all about slight discoloration.

What's more important is how much thermal paste you use and how you apply it. If you are using an Arctic Silver product, look at their website and find the instructions for your particular CPU.

i am using my tube of thermalpaste i got with my noctua cooler. Heard that sure. Its not the best but it pretty freaking good for beeing thermalpaste you get stock with the aftermarket cooler.

Also. Yeah i've heard about that coffefilter solution XD
The stuff i showed is working great if you do it right and the coffe filters is a thing my father is admirering and apperently its very expensive becouse gosh knows what if anyone DARES to do anything with thoose magnicifant things exept making coffe with them

Brink said:

Methylated spirits, or denatured alcohol (ethanol) in US, is good to clean with as well since it's alcohol based. Just be sure to not get any on your skin.

You would definitely want to make sure it is dry and has evaporated before powering up the computer. Otherwise, yeah you could literally have a flaming heatsink.

The aluminum polish may help with buffing out that rainbow affect on the metal.

Um.. Heh... ok nice to hear that is should work. I have noticed that if you are kinda lazy with it it leaves rainbow looking stuff on the cpu as you see on the heatsink but on the cpu. But with careful use it will remove it from the cpu. but it doesent work on the heatsink. Also

Hehe. if you where to get that liquid onto your skin/hands what... erhm.. Could happen? also on thermalpaste it also says do not get on your skin... I.. kinda got that on my hands a couple of times too... But i clean it of within ~10 minutes...

Am i gonna die?

Also the q-tips thing sounds very interesting

It's toxic, and about the same as getting gasoline on your skin.

It won't kill you (unless you drink it), but it could damage the skin for awhile or make you sick.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol