Question PCI-E x16 "slot cleaners" - like NES/SNES deck cleaning kits, back in the day?

[VirtualLarry]

Does anyone make anything like this? Some sort of plastic, with an absorbent micro-fiber cloth cover, that you can plug into and remove from suspect/grimey/unused in storage for months PCI-E slots, before putting your nice shiny new $420 RX 5700XT (true story) into them, and potentially have something catestrophic happen because the slot was "dirty" or "shorted" on some important pin?

Surely, they must make these. But they're probably as rare as floppy-drive cleaning kits. (I have one, somewhere. Boy was that one hard to find. )

I 'm a little hestitant to put some isopropyl-alcohol-soaked paper towels on a piece of cardboard or another sacrificial PCI-E card, and clean it out that way, lest I get paper towel lint left in the slot. (Have no idea if the contacts in the slot would snag on the paper towels or not.)

Anyone else ever been in this situation? How did you handle cleaning out potentially-dirty or smokey PCI-E slots? There must be some way....

Edit: Apparently, this was asked and answered in 2013:

How To - CNET

CNET editors and users share the top tech 'how to' tips and tricks with advice for getting the most out of all your gadgets.

www.cnet.com

TL;DR Use Alcohol or Contact Cleaner, and a clean toothbrush, and brush vigorously, then leave near an open window to dry.

 

[Oyeve]

Aircan. I wouldnt mess with chems on a mobo.

 

[Jimminy]

I too would just blow it out thoroughly with air. Only one other thing I do for a slot that hasn't been used in a while ... I insert the new card, remove, then reinsert several times. The theory is to wipe the contacts and hope for a lower contact resistance.

 

[mindless1]

They are gold plated, as well as the card contacts, so you shouldn't really need an abrasive cleaner unless this was a very unusual environment. Even tobacco tar will loosen up and rinse away if you apply some cleaner, let it soak, then apply a second coat a minute later.

Use non-residue electrical contact, spray can cleaner. In a pinch you can also use mass air flow cleaner from an auto parts store. Do blow dust out of the slot first, and use a ton of the stuff, it will run out and dry completely, fairly quickly and does not conduct electricity so no need to worry about taking the board out or wait times, can be done by simply unplugging the PSU for good measure.

If someone spilled a soft drink in it or another water soluble grime, then you may need a water based solution and better then to take the board out to do it, don't want water causing pools of water soluble flux to deposit and dry in concentrations enough to make conductive salt-metal pools on the board. Often even if a part looks clean, there is still a very fine film of flux on it and you will see it leave crusty deposits behind if it gets wet but not rinsed well enough. Contact cleaner usually doesn't cause this problem because it doesn't have near the surface tension and dries much faster.

However, if the slot is that dirty, it could be that everything needs cleaned.