plain old rubbing alcohol will do you just fine.. and use a cue-tip to wipe it off... then just blow on the die to make sure no cotton is stuck heh... you can use a lintless rag if you want, doesn't matter though.. now.. when you seat the hsf on the chip, best to always take it back off to see if it seated properly on the chip, meaning that the compound has been displaced evenly... if not, add more, remove more, whatever... also you want almost a paper thin layer, perhaps a smidge thicker.. when you check your temps, and you think they're too high, try removing a little comound