Cleaning Laptop Screen: What to Use?

[Math Is Hard]

I need to clean my laptop screen but I am not sure what to use. Any recommendations? thanks.

 

[TenaliRaman]

Dry Soft Woollen Cloth?

 

[Math Is Hard]

there's not some kind of spray cleaner I can use? I think I splatted some Coca cola on it.

 

[z-component]

You can buy LCD cleaner at computer/office-supply stores. You should also buy a lint-free microfiber cloth for dust.

 

[Math Is Hard]

ok, thanks. Guess I will just browse the catalog. If anyone has a particular brand they like, let me know.

 

[Evo]

I use windex.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I use windex.

Do you really? Evo, it's your fault my screen has Coke sprayed on it in the first place!

 

[turbo]

Do not use Windex for anything! Mix a 50:50 solution of good clean water and rubbing alcohol, and you will have a no-streak solution to clean windows and eyeglasses, and it's a great spray to clean stove-tops and counters. I ran an optical lab for a year or so, and that's what we cleaned all the glasses with. The blue-dyed fluid with a touch of detergent (to make it foam slightly) was designed to make the customer pay 10X (or more) the fair price for no extra functionality. Isopropyl alcohol and water can clean more problem stains than you know! Try itl.

 

[Math Is Hard]

This is OK on an LCD screen, turbo?

 

[z-component]

I don't think you should use alcohol on the LCDs. And DO NOT use Windex! Any brand will work as long as they're for LCDs.

 

[turbo]

This is OK on an LCD screen, turbo?

Yes. It is mild and it evaporates quickly without streaks. I have used it on my LCDs for years with no ill results, and my wife and I keep at least a couple of spray-bottles full of this stuff at all times. Why buy cleaners, when you can make them up at a nominal cost? Try this on a grubby window, then post your results here!

 

[rcgldr]

... and I was thinking MIH put white out on her screen to correct a document.

From

http://www.berkeleybreathed.com/pages/favorite_strips.asp

The 9th strip down:

http://members.cox.net/savefiles/whiteout.jpg

 

[NightBreed]

Can I suggest baby wipes? Works for me, baby wipes clean EVERYTHING. ;)

 

[Evo]

At work we are given alcohol wipes to clean our laptop screens.

Actually, at home, I mostly use a wet cloth. I clean my bathroom mirors with nothing but a wet sponge. People that see me do that are shocked to see they come out streakless.

 

[Math Is Hard]

OK, I am going to try the half alcohol/ half water solution. Thanks!

 

[turbo]

OK, I am going to try the half alcohol/ half water solution. Thanks!

You won't be sorry. It is a gentle but effective cleaner for glass, plastic, enamel, etc, etc. As an optician, I used it to clean patients' lenses because it was safe for coatings (antireflective, UV, etc) and would not scratch. Any optician worth their salt can tell you that you should never use Windex on your lenses, so why should you use it on your monitor or other plastic or glass surfaces when their is a cheaper alternative that works as well or better?

Once you have tried it on a window or mirror or your LCD, you may want to make up a second spray bottle of the solution with a little Oil of Wintergreen or Oil of Peppermint added. It's great for cleaning countertops, stove-tops, bathroom surfaces, etc, and the essential oils leave a light fresh smell. The oils are pricey, but you only need a little dash in each batch of cleaning solution, so it will last a very long time. The water/rubbing alcohol solution not only cleans, but it helps kill germs, and it leaves no soap residue for more germs/molds to feed on. Best of all, it is really inexpensive. Go to your local pharmacy or health food store to pick up the essential oils and buy the biggest (usually the cheapest per unit volume) bottle of isopropyl alcohol they've got. Don't pay $$$$ for the Shaklee cleaning products (mostly water and alcohol anyway) - make your own and keep your money.

For those of you with access to methanol, do not substitute. If you're going to use this cleaning solution, use isopropyl alcohol and protect your health. Ethanol wouldn't be bad, but if I had ready access to food-grade ethanol, I wouldn't be cleaning windows with it. I'd be mixing it with wild blackberry juice.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I cleaned my screen with the alcohol and water solution, and it worked just dandy!

 

[turbo]

I cleaned my screen with the alcohol and water solution, and it worked just dandy!

Now go clean your mirror, windows, spaghetti-stained stove-top and your mildewed bathroom vanity with that same solution. The mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol gives you a range of solubility and wettability that you cannot get from either alone. It's cheap and effective. Like I mentioned earlier, you can put a few drops of Oil of Wintergreen or Oil of Peppermint into one of your spayers to leave a nice minty smell when you use this for general cleaning.

Take back our air, people! We should not be breathing the toxic soup of chemicals listed as "fragrances" in detergents, fabric softeners, room deodorizers, masking fragrances like Febreze, and used in "unscented" Oil of Olay Moisturizing lotion. None of us should have to breathe this crap, least of all the little children whose immune systems, respiratory systems, and neurological systems are still developing. Why do you think childhood asthma and respiratory illnesses are spiking? Duh! Note: If the label on a cosmetic, cleaning product, or laundry product does not explicitly say "fragrance free" IT ISN'T, and you are exposing yourselves and your loved ones to unregulated chemicals every time you use them. In the US, manufacturers are allowed to conceal the ingredients of anything they consider "fragrances" under an old French perfume law, depite the fact that anybody with a gas chromatograph or a mass sprectroscope can dissect their perfume in no time flat. Here's just one link. You can find others easily. If you are sending your kids to a school that is not fragrance-free, you mey be setting them up for a lifetime of health problems.http://www.organichealthandbeauty.com/EPA-Fragrance-Study_ep_46-1.html

 

[chroot]

I take it you work for Big Isopropyl, don't you turbo-1?

- Warren

 

[turbo]

I take it you work for Big Isopropyl, don't you turbo-1?

- Warren

No, but Ethanol and Isopropyl are pretty safe for skin contact, and combined with water, the range of solubilities and wetabilities provide a nice range of cleaning properties with little else required. Cleaners do not have to be constructed of X solvent and Y surfactant and z abrasive. Sometimes less is more.

 

[chroot]

No, but Ethanol and Isopropyl are pretty safe for skin contact, and combined with water, the range of solubilities and wetabilities provide a nice range of cleaning properties with little else required. Cleaners do not have to be constructed of X solvent and Y surfactant and z abrasive. Sometimes less is more.

I think you should rebrand some plain isopropyl "Miracle Cleaning Alcohol," mark the price up 1000%, then go on late-night TV, using the exact same sales pitch you just used. You'd be a millionaire in a matter of months.

- Warren

 

[turbo]

I think you should rebrand some plain isopropyl "Miracle Cleaning Alcohol," mark the price up 1000%, then go on late-night TV, using the exact same sales pitch you just used. You'd be a millionaire in a matter of months.

- Warren

The Shaklee initiative! Regardless, the mixture works really well.

 

[chroot]

Fools and money are soon to part, yes?

- Warren

 

[turbo]

I think you should rebrand some plain isopropyl "Miracle Cleaning Alcohol," mark the price up 1000%, then go on late-night TV, using the exact same sales pitch you just used. You'd be a millionaire in a matter of months.

- Warren

Have you tried a solution of isopropil alcohol and water as a cleaning agent? If not, I suggest that you do before denigrating someone with years of practical experience.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I think chroot is just commenting that there are many people who wouldn't make the cognitive leap that the solution is just ordinary rubbing alcohol and water that they could mix up themselves. Heck, if it came in a pretty enough bottle I might order it!

And yeah, I went and tried it on my mirror right after I cleaned the laptop and it did a fabulous job. No streaks!

 

[chroot]

I wasn't denigrating you, turbo-1, I was laughing at the general public who would probably buy your Miracle Cleaning Alcohol like hotcakes.

- Warren

 

[turbo]

I wasn't denigrating you, turbo-1, I was laughing at the general public who would probably buy your Miracle Cleaning Alcohol like hotcakes.

- Warren

I'm sorry, Warren. Sometimes, it's tough to read peoples' intentions through these posts, and I should have known that you wouldn't poke fun at people who are trying to be helpful. My wife bought Shaklee cleaners for a while because they were fragrance-free and didn't leave residues, etc. Then when I started working as an optician, I found out what the opticians all know - al solution of isopropyl alcohol and water works really well, cleaning a wide range of junk off lenses without damaging them or the coatings on them. Some coatings can be stripped and re-applied in the typical optician's lab, but not the really expensive anti-reflective coatings.

Again, my apologies for misreading your intent.

 

[larkspur]

The alcohol solution works great as car windshield washer fluid too.