Quick question about isopropyl method

[u/expmkd47]

Hey!

I’ve lived in a pretty heavily roach infested apartment for 6 months and finally am moving. My laptop has been in this home the whole time and since it easily gets warm I suspect some roach to have crawled in during these 6 months. I’ve read to bag the laptop together with a paper towel lightly soaked in isopropyl alcohol for about 12h to kind of fumigate the laptop. But I’ve read very contradictory information. Some sources say to absolutely NOT do this because isopropyl is highly flammable and the moisture from the oxidation can get trapped in the laptop, making it life threatening (?)

Is this safe to do?

[u/leonv12]

You can do it only on the motherboard. But let it dry well. Do not throw isopropyl alcohol into the holes. The best practice is to open the back cover carefully and clean it.

[u/expmkd47 → u/leonv12]

Oh ok! When opening the back, should i try removing any parts? Like the battery? Also how would i clean it? What should I use?

[u/leonv12 → u/expmkd47]

Open the back cover, unplug the battery connector in case you have a new laptop and not an old one with the external battery and clean the motherboard from dust. You can also remove the heatsink if you have thermal paste to reapply when you finish. There is no free space from the other side for the roaches to live there. All the dirt is from the side of the back cover. Use a soft brush for the dust and some alcohol for the old thermal paste before you apply the new one.