This paper reports on the efficiency of a less critical chemical cleaning process on the removal of particulates and metal contamination from the silicon surface. Having completed the entire RCA-based cleaning process in either nonfiltered or point-of-use filtered distilled instead of deionized water, a final dip in diluted HF followed by an immersion of the wafer in boiling isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is shown to be effective in reducing particulate levels on its surface without increasing the metal contamination content with regard to previous cleaning steps. It is also shown that early breakdowns of MOS capacitors are predominantly governed by the particulate content on the silicon surface. In addition, it is shown that sulfur can remain on the silicon surface after a dip in diluted HF solution and that after a following hot IPA rinsing, sodium, potassium, calcium, and copper can also be detected on the silicon surface.