# Do you remove the plastic film on your electronics? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 18, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740 "2013-02-18T21:48:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/1 "2013-02-18T21:48:30Z")
My daughter will leave that film on until all that is left are ragged edges. It keeps her screen clean, she says. It looks to me that the protective film gets even greasier than the glass it’s protecting. My son rips that plastic off the minute he is in possession of whatever it is that has the screen that is covered in plastic. I’m middling. I keep it for a while to make that brand-new-feeling last a little longer. The minute an edge frays, off it comes. How 'bout you? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/2 "2013-02-18T22:21:07Z")
I take it off. I bet Grandmothers leave it on, like plastic furniture covers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/3 "2013-02-18T22:24:22Z")
Yes. I hate the stuff, even when it’s perfectly applied and has no loose edges. Occasionally I’ll own a product for a long time before I realize the protective film is still on a panel, a logo bar, whatever. It’s great fun to peel it off and find the impossibly immaculate surface underneath. ---
**Author:** ![troubledwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@troubledwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troubledwater)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/4 "2013-02-18T22:37:46Z")
It’s still there on the microwave and dishwasher. I’ve lived here a year. I should peel the microwave. It looks pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![FoundWaldo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@FoundWaldo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoundWaldo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/5 "2013-02-18T22:38:43Z")
Drives me nuts when people leave it on. I remove it immediately. Though coincidentally I just noticed this morning that there was some on my electric toothbrush that I hadn’t noticed before; it lasted for a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/6 "2013-02-18T22:41:23Z")
How many people have stainless-steel refrigerators with nearly unremovable tag edges of this stuff around the panels and handles? I occasionally pick at some of ours with tweezers and consider dismantling the doors to finish the job… but my in-laws have a fridge that looks like it’s dissolving around the edges, there are so many fuzzy edges of the stuff left. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/7 "2013-02-18T22:46:55Z")
What possible reason is there to leave it on? It’s there to protect the finish during the packing and unpacking process, AFAIK. That makes less sense than those people who leave the sticker in their car window when they buy a new car. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/8 "2013-02-18T22:50:18Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > What possible reason is there to leave it on? It’s there to protect the finish during the packing and unpacking process, AFAIK. That makes less sense than those people who leave the sticker in their car window when they buy a new car. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/9 "2013-02-18T23:22:38Z")
… wait, that shit is _supposed_ to come off? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/10 "2013-02-18T23:36:44Z")
Stripping the film is the BEST part of getting a new gadget. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/11 "2013-02-18T23:40:56Z")
it makes telling the time more of a challenge. ---
**Author:** ![Lgbpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lgbpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lgbpop)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/12 "2013-02-18T23:47:35Z")
Take it off immediately. The longer it remains on, the more the film gasses out and becomes attached to the material it’s supposed to be protecting. At that point, it disfigures things when you try to remove it. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/13 "2013-02-19T05:10:54Z")
I’m a grandmother, three times over, and I remove the plastic film as soon as I know it works and I’m going to keep it. I am never happier than when I get to peel plastic off new fixtures at work. I have, on occasion, secretly removed the plastic from appliances not owned or posessed by me, if the sight of that loose edge was driving me crazy. So far I have resisted stopping people and offering to remove that big X of basting holding the kick pleat of their coat closed, or to clip the four tailor’s tacks that are holding that temporary cloth label on the sleeve of their coat. I politely asked my SO if I could remove the chain-stitch holding the raw edges of the fringe together on his new throw pillows (one edge had already pulled free and allowed the fringe to, well, fringe). My ex-husband learned early on NOT to allow himself to get a sunburn that would peel. And I pray to God that the next time I sit behind the old guy with that one long ear hair at church, that I be assisted in maintaining control over my hand that wants to wander into my purse and search for tweezers… ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/14 "2013-02-19T05:27:13Z")
I take it off when I know I’m going to keep it. The only exception was my microwave control panel. For some reason it didn’t bug me to keep it there, and I was curious how long it would last, because it was that thicker cling vinyl stuff. 10 years was the answer, before the edges curled and it didn’t clean off well any more. When I moved last time, I peeled that cover off to a pristine control panel on an otherwise kinda worn and mangy looking microwave but still works great. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/15 "2013-02-19T05:34:59Z")
I keep it on until starts to get too dirty to read through. It extends the life of the panel for a while. Sometimes a long time. After it’s off, eventually the buttons will get worn and the whole thing gets scratched and dirty. But if it’s loose at any time, it’s coming off. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/16 "2013-02-19T05:43:45Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Stripping the film is the BEST part of getting a new gadget. [Savor the moment!](http://youtu.be/lrjwBvB7APY) It’s not mine until it’s been _deflowered_. It’s not really mine until I’ve taken it apart and put it back together. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/17 "2013-02-19T06:30:16Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Occasionally I’ll own a product for a long time before I realize the protective film is still on a panel, a logo bar, whatever. It’s great fun to peel it off and find the impossibly immaculate surface underneath. This is me. I don’t buy too many gadgets, so am usually ignorant of the protective film’s existence until it starts to loosen. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/18 "2013-02-19T11:25:01Z")
The first time I got a smart phone I had it all of about three hours. I pulled it out of my pocket only to find that my keys had scratched my damn touch screen. I was freak’n livid! That was of course until I realized that the only thing I scratched was the film cover. I wasn’t aware that the phone had a film cover on it. I felt really stupid that day. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/19 "2013-02-19T12:02:17Z")
I left the screen on my phone. When it’s too scratched to work with, I’ll take it off and have one of the fancy screen protectors put on. ---
**Author:** ![Trueth\_Be\_Told](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@Trueth\_Be\_Told](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trueth_Be_Told)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740/20 "2013-10-08T02:08:07Z")
The reason the plastic was left on the product was to preserve the item, thus increasing the resell value. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remove-the-plastic-film-on-your-electronics/650740.md?page=2)