Anybody got any good ideas on how to clead the plastic screen of my laptop computer?
Apparenly I have a code…
that’s supposed to be ‘clean’ not ‘clead’
Use the soft cloth that comes with pairs of glasses.
Don’t use ammonia based cleaners like Windex - they yellow the plastic. Alcohol based cleaners are a no-no, too. It’s worth picking up one of the cleaners like “Klear Screen” that’s made for laptops and flat panel monitors. Go to the store and pick such a cleaner and a soft cloth (plastic screens are also subject to scratching).
I have used dilted alcohol (1/3 rubbing alcohol 2/3rds water) based cleaners on lots of notebook screens with no problems. If alcohol based cleaners won’t do a dilute dishwasing detergent and water solution will work ok but does tend to streak a bit as detergent residue can leave a film unless wiped afterward with a cloth with water only.
In both scenarios the main issue is to spray the fluid on the cloth then clean the screen. Do not spray the screen directly as water can leak down into the seal between the screen and the bezel and that’s a very bad thing.
I’ve never used anything but a damp paper towel to gently clean CRTs and LCD panels. Well, I have used a spit-moistened finger on occasion, but to avoid streaking, a paper towel works a little better. Even dilute alcohol solutions can have a cumulatively damaging effect on anti-glare coatings. Optical cleaning cloths are even better, but I never seem to be able to find mine when I need them. I have a couple of booklets of them but I really try to save them for fine optics like my binoculars and rifle and pistol scopes.
There are so many laptops that the only way to know is to read the owner’s manual.
Klear Screen is nothing but isopropyl alcohol and water. Most laptop manufacturers put a warning in the manual to clean screens only with non-ammonia cleaners, using a solution of no more than 50% isopropyl alcohol. I just go to a pharmacy and buy rubbing alcohol and dilute it with 50% water, and use a soft cloth. That will cost you about $1 instead of $20 for Klear Screen. It works great.
Do not clean a laptop screen with paper towels or kleenex, they are too abrasive and will eventually scratch up your screen. Use a soft cloth, I use a shred of an old flannel sheet, old TShirt fabric would work well too.
When my husband bought his laptop it came with some special laptop screen wipes (in little individual packets). I think you can buy them separately but most of the shops here don’t stock them for some reason. The one place that did seem to stock them was sold out. And unfortunately I can’t seem to get any isopropyl alcohol here – no one has even heard of it!
The Klear Screen bottle says “alcohol and ammonia free”, and I don’t remember it costing $20. More like about $5-10, which was probably still a ripoff, but low enough that I wasn’t going to kick too much. There are a lot of specific LCD cleaner products on the market, I’m not endorsing that particular one. I DO note that the bottle doesn’t say anywhere on it what the hell IS in it, just that it’s not alcohol or ammonia. Their web site claims it “liquid polymer-based”. Thanks a bunch. I think we all agree - use a SOFT cloth, though.
Nimue, isopropyl alcohol is just rubbing alcohol, you should be able to buy it at any pharmacy. Read the fine print, I have a bottle here, it says 70% isopropyl alcohol 30% water, so if I dilute that with 50% water, it comes out to… umm… well, something less than 50% alcohol. Works great, that’s the solution recommended in my Mac PowerBook manual. Put a little solution on a cloth, a few quick wipes and the screen is clean.
Powerbook owners are really picky because the keyboard is so close to the screen when it’s closed, sometimes the keys make contact with the screen and the oil from your fingerprints on the keys leaves marks on the screen surface. Everyone in the PowerBook circles seem to agree that the light isopropyl solution works the best.
Just found this post again at my husband’s request.
I’m well aware of what isopropyl alcohol is, the trouble is that pharmacists here (UK) do not seem to stock it, nor have they ever heard of it (under either name). I have looked for it in pharmacies before without success, and I don’t know of anything that can be used in its place. (Hence our trying to find more of those little packets of screen wipes.)
Any people in the UK have success at finding it? If not, what do you use instead?
Last time I bought some was several years ago, from my local corner-shop chemist. Asked for it, and got it, no problem. 50ml bottle for about 50p. I think it may be generally referred to as ‘IPA’, but would have thought a pharmacist would know what it was, regardless.