Could I get away with not using alcohol to clean cpu?

[Inkz]

I have thermal paste and I my laptop is having issues so I was going to give it a repaste but I don't have rubbing alcohol, think I could get away without it to clean?

[Elisis]

You can always use a slightly wet or a dry rag. Something like that. It's not ideal, but it'll work.

[BobVonBob]

Isopropyl alcohol is mostly recommended because it evaporates quickly, water works just fine as long as you completely dry off your CPU before reapplying thermal paste.

[Damascus]

I use bone dry tissues all the time, isopropyl just makes the job easier.  I personally would recomend against using water, but not having the alcohol isn't going to hurt

[lafrente]

Dampened toilet paper + q tip for 10 years. Not wet, dampened.