Laptop fan makes funny clicking noises

I am using a Fujitsu T Series Lifebook tablet. I have used it for more than four years already. These days, the laptop fan is always on and just yesterday, it started making very audible whirring and clicking noises. The laptop always feels very hot even when in an air conditioned room with a heatsink at the base.I asked a friend for advice and he advised me to try cleaning the fan of lint as a first resort. Now, I'm rather cautious about this because I have never cleaned the fan in its four years of use. Which means I have no idea how to go about doing it. My friend suggested that I use a can of compressed air to blow away the lint.I rather think that using compressed air is rather too much; wouldn't a simple cloth/swab/brush wipe be sufficient? I really have no idea but I'm worried that since I'm not used to this, I could damage the laptop by using compressed air. What should I do?

compressed air is actually one of the safest ways to clean anything hardware wise, i do it all the time for my fan....

problem is if its really piled up then canned air wont shift it and you'll have to dismantle the laptop to get at the fan (I did on mine, luckily its just a panel covering the CPU and fan) and I removed some huge solid wads of dust.

Replying to #3

Yeh, picture perfect. Anyways, after four years of use without using any compressed air, you will probably have to take it apart.