Can I use nail polish remover to clean thermal paste of GPU?

[PATENT]

Is it safe? I don't have any alcohol

[Sapph]

Some are fine to use but some can leave the surface sticky from all the extra chemicals they might have included.
It's best to just wipe old thermal paste without anything if you don't have the Isopropyl/isopropanol.

[_I_]

it works but can make a mess
better to use isopropyl alcohol 90%+

its cheap from walmart or other drug stores

[Kaihekoa]

Just stop and go buy some isopropyl alcohol.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

I would never try it, it COULD potentially damage the finish on a Motherboard, stripping off the top layer, whatever that might be. Even though your CPU top surface and bottom Heatsink surfaces are basically a type of solid metal; I'd still avoid such chemical just in-case it were to drip or splash onto the Motherboard some how, avoid that.

Never use hash chemicals on PC hardware, period. There simply is no reason to.
Same goes for TVs/Monitors too. And also cheap keyboards that have the letters printed, as it could eat the letters right off the keys.

On some pastes I've even just gone at it carefully with some warm water + Qtip until worked all of it off.

70% or higher isopropyl alcohol (very cheap at most local stores) works very well. I prefer the 91%+ because this contains less water. Cause if for some reason you wanted to actually dilute the alcohol, you always could using filtered or distilled water. Best going for higher % so you get high alcohol content though, which dissolves quicker also. Might became a tacky mess with pastes like Silver-3 or 5 types; but doable, just take your time and don't rub away so much so fast that it ends up running off of the CPU surface and possibly onto the Motherboard.

If you are removing a CPU to change for another, it's best and easiest to clean the CPU surface while it's in the socket, as removing the CPU topped with paste can mean getting the paste on your hands and then transferring that in many places you never want it to be, definately don't want it getting on the bottoms of any CPU, or on the Motherboard. Most pastes won't do damages to a Motherboard circuits, however just avoid it. If it happens, clean it up before powering that system on again.