The Best Way To Effectively Clean LCD Monitor Screens
Cleaning laptop and LCD monitor screens is different from cleaning the usual CRT screens and requires some additional care and safeguards. A large part of this is because the traditional CRT screen is made up of glass, so it is a lot less prone to scratches from dust particles then your LCD screen.
You can follow these steps and guidelines while cleaning your laptop or LCD monitor to keep out of harm’s way and have a sparkling clean screen.
Materials you would need
- A soft lint free cotton cloth (microfiber cloth works best).
- Distilled Water. Isopropyl Alcohol or white vinegar (if there are oil stains)
- A bottle (atomizer bottle works best)
How to Clean Your LCD Monitor
- If it is just dust you are getting rid of, distilled water would be sufficient and you don’t need any other cleansing agent. If there are fingerprints on the screen or some oily stains than the best thing to use is a solution of distilled water and isopropyl alcohol. Note that you should NEVER clean off the screen with a dry cloth. This way the dust particles can easily scratch the surface of the screen.
- If you are going to need Isopropyl Alcohol, you should make a solution consisting of equal amounts of distilled water and isopropyl alcohol.
- You then need to put this solution (or just distilled water if that is the case) into an atomizer bottle.
- Spray the contents of the bottle onto the soft lint free cloth, DO NOT spray directly on the screen, make sure that you are holding the cloth away from laptop when spraying. A damp cloth (or perhaps an edge of cloth) is what we are looking for, we don’t need to soak it in the solution.
- Gently wipe the screen with the cloth. Horizontal and vertical movements work best, however if there are areas that need a little extra attention or streaks going along the screen, you can concentrate on the area with some circular movements.
What you should not do
I have been pointing out the Do’s and the Don’ts all along, and here are some more absolute NO-NO’s:
- Never use cleansing agents like window cleaners, soap solutions etc. These contain chemicals that can harm the screen. In particular you should avoid anything that contains the likes of ammonia, acetone, toluene or ethyl alcohol.
- Don’t spray directly on the screen. If you can’t find an atomizer bottle, you can pour some liquid onto the cloth just make sure it is not soaking wet. Again do all this away from the laptop
- Do not use tissue papers, newspaper or shower towels to clean the screen. You can easily scratch the screen with these.
- Don’t use tap water, it always contains some dissolved salts that can harm the screen.
- Don’t clean while the laptop/computer is powered on. Turning off not only gives you a nice black screen that lets you see the stains easily, you also avoid the risk of damaging your computer accidentally.
- Don’t put too much pressure on the screen while cleaning. Doing so can permanently damage the screen.
How do you clean your LCD monitor or laptop screens? Any ‘top secret formula X‘ that you might want to share in the comments? We won’t tell anyone. Promise!
(By) Varun Kashyap - Programmer, Blogger and Tech Enthusiast, who tweets @VarunKashyap and blogs about tips, tricks and latest on the web at TechCrazy Blog
Thanks for the info. I found an interesting way of cleaning your monitor from the inside a while back at this link: http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf
I loved using your utility that cleans inside out… Amazing!! Thank you, Frank
I clean them with the same moisterous cloth I clean my glasses.
I’ve heard people say using the cleaning solution for contact lenses works well.
I just bought a simple package for a couple of € which contained an atomizer (never knew the word, thanks for that
), a microfiber cloth and some on-the-road cloths. I’ve had it for a few years and I think it will last for another 10, works great for my laptop and TFT-screen.
I have always used moist eyeglasses tissue. (and occasionally a dry cloth
)
it looked like an obvious choice, although i never gave it much thought
Thanks for sharing, some time i cleaned my LCD with a little water on tissue, but now i know that itwas not good,,thanks for ur usefull tips.
I’ll offer up an alternative method that I have been using for several years that uses a readily available cleaner that is safe for Lcd’s, Plasma screens etc. how to clean your LCD screen All of the cautions in the article here apply, it’s just not necessary to mix your own “secret sauce”. My opinion, comments welcome!
shamwow
shamwow
BTW I love your blog!
This sounds good for typical LCD screens. But, what about a glossy, MacBook screen?
If you don’t mind I’ll just consider the MAC screen the same as my Acer’s glossy screen (well, although the MAC is probably redicoulously overpriced
).
I use the package I mentioned earlier, it’s called something like Office cleaner Dataflash and it looks something like this: http://gfx.despec.com/highres/0057/DFL30017.JPG
It works excellent, you’ll probably just need to polish it a little more because you see dirt easier on a glossy screen.
I’ve cleaned mine for years using simple tap water and a dab of dish detergent. I can get away with municipal water instead of distilled water because it has a very low mineral content.
1. Lay laptop screen flat & sprinkle a few drops of water near the centre of the screen so that there is no risk of rolling into the borders of the screen.
2. Wash your hands.
3. Put pea-sized drop of detergent on your finger.
4. Mix the detergent into the water on the screen and then gradually spread the mixture over the screen. The detergent will prevent the water from beading and will turn the mixture into a thin film that spreads easily. Go close to but do not include the border of the LCD. This will dissolve specks of dirt & fingerprints.
5. Blot the surface dry with a clean lint-free (e.g., cotton) cloth.
6. Repeat process with plain water. This will mix with residual dirt & detergent.
7. Blot again with clean dry cloth.
Seems like a long process but it takes me no longer than it took to write these instructions. Note that I haven’t done this with LCD monitors because they are vertical and I don’t want the water to run into the bottom of the monitor.
thank you so very much for this article. I really appreciate it, especially since the monitor i am using is not my own. I would hate to have to buy them a new one, AND I would NEVER hear the END of it.
You can actually buy LCD screen cleaning kits from a company called Rock through your local computer shop and they contain all you need to clean any LCD screen in a handy little drawstring bag!