I recently soaked my maf in a bowl of fuel after removing rubber by the base of the sensor for about 30mins, cleaned it till it was fully dried. Fixed it back in the car (Mazda cx7). After 25mins fast drive, the ECU accepted the new reading and the vehicle doesn't consume much fuel like before, also it moves faster.
So using fuel isn't bad, so long as the rubber for air leak is removed and replaced after cleaning.

It's better to use fuel injector cleaner on a half tank of fuel than using thinner.