destinking the computers.

Plain rubbing alcohol is excellent for removal of the gung of both mildewed or tar/nicotined equipment and it's cheap. Walmart and other chains carry quart bottles, I buy them at a local pharmacy by the case at a 5% markoff). Use it liberally but with the unit powered down, since you still have to be concerned with shock/short since there's 30% water in it. Don't buy the useless alcohol that's less than 70%, it doesn't work well at all. It also freshens the smell of machines once the tar/nicotine or mildew/mold is gone. If you have vents, circuit boards, etc you can get a good horsehair or parts cleaning brush soaked with it and scrub them (try first on an area to insure it won't hurt anything) and that removes stuck gunk off the components. If you're cleaning a cdrom that was used in a smoking area, use lens tissue (photo grade) to final polish the laser so that it has all of the stuff off and the alcohol doesn't leave a streak/haze on the lens. I continually clean cd players for people's stereos as a side job and they are an easy fix. This is a heavy tobacco use area (Ky, why of course) and also very moist/prone to mold/mildew. I get both mildewed/musty items and tar/nicotined items all of the time - and the contaminent is usually the cause for the item's failure. Denatured alcohol can be used many times too but be careful of how it reacts as it's not water based and can remove stickers, decals, etc. I also use green Scotch scrub pads many times with isopropyl to scrub the units or use a vegetable/nail brush with iso to scrub the outer cabinets that have the mottled finish. They generally come out looking near new, if not like new. 409 also works well on outer cabinets but isn't much on certain stains such as tar/nic or toner stains. Citrus cleaners are good too but act like a solvent on many articles, dependant on the cleaner and the item. Some citrus cleaners are made from the oils in citrus peels rather than from the citrus juice and the oils are in the same category as toluene or lacquer thinner on many plastics (isn't lacquer thinner made from a fruit product?)