Products for cleaning electronics such as potentiometers, connectors & switches can generally be divided in 3 groups: Contact Cleaner (no residues) Dissolves corrosion and oxidation on the contact surfaces. Leaves no residues, which means that it will evaporate and leave the contact surfaces clean. Isopropyl alcohol can also be used. Kontakt 60, PRF 6-68, etc. … Lubricant / anti-corrosion protection Can be based on grease, vaseline, oil and in some products silicone. Rheolube 716a, Kontakt 701, etc. … Contact Cleaner with lubrication / anti-corrosion protection Combined cleaning and lubrication in one bottle. Deoxit D-Series, Kontakt 61, etc. Potentiometers are generally built with a resistive track (carbon, conductive plastic, cermet or wirewound) and a piece of metal (wiper) that slides on the resistive track. When the wiper is moved, some friction will occur that will eventually limit the life of the potentiometer. Lubrication and a robust (thick) resistive track are therefore essential for long lasting potentiometers. Connectors such as tube sockets, phone & RCA connectors, board-to-board connectors, etc. can suffer from bad (scratchy) connections due to contamination or oxidation of the contact surfaces. Here, there are no moving parts once the connections have been made, hence there’s no need for lubrication. (No residue) contact cleaner are often preferred. Contact cleaner with lubricant for electronics can also be used. Sliding switches should be treated the same way as potentiometers.