Clean the screen - with what?

[NickZac]

i use eyeglass spray and a microfiber cloth

Right on! If you have to use liquid, this is the stuff you want to use as it has additives in it to prevent scratching or chemically altering the screen. I use this microfiber cloth as well:

I give these things to people for Christmas and they are like "WTF you gave me cleaning supplies?!?!"...after they use it they are like "OMG this is AMAZING!"

 

[smcbaird]

I'm not sure how heavy you are, maybe your fat leaks out, but finger oil/sweat/grease isn't exactly fat.

Yes they are.

 

[TenderBranson]

i just use water

 

[NickZac]

Yes they are.

Unless you are a girl. Remember, girls don't sweat, fart, or poop. A bunch of girls told me that in the first grade, so it must be true.

 

[Sun Baked]

I'm not a native english speaker, so I just chose the word closest to what we use in sweden. You understood what I meant though, mission accomplished.


So many great tips in this thread, I am really grateful! I will get my hands on a microfiber cloth and see how that works out. Just a question though: When you say it should only be dampened, how exactly do you do that? Whenever I have to wet a cloth or paper it always get superwet, and if I try to only put a little bit of water on it its like spots of water here and there, no continuity really

Sorry if I seem totally behind on this, its my first laptop so I've never really had to clean my screens before.

I usually take the spray bottle of H2O (water) i have sitting around and point it at the microfiber cloth and give it a couple/few squirts.

For the times that water alone doesn't work, i use the spray bottle for electronics.

Not trying to get it wet, just damp enough, or leaving enough on it to wipe the screen down without smearing the fingerprints/oils.

---

spray bottles for water/cleaning aren't too expensive and can be found in several departments in most stores from the health-beauty section to the household cleaning and automotive section. Something small and cheap with a few ounces capacity from the health-beauty section works well in you don't want a huge bottle.

 

[' r i S e n]

I use water as well.

I know this is about screens, but my question concerns cleaning. I have heard that there is a supposed "light" inside of a laptop that is suppose to turn on when you "spill" something on your laptop. I use a less than damp paper towel to brush over my keys in order to take any smudges off of them, and I was wondering if, say, a microscopic (lol?) drop of water went in between the keys that it could trigger or eventually trigger anything?

I don't want to be told I dropped my laptop in a lake or something if I have to take it for repairs when I just brush the keys with a barely damp paper towel weekly to keep it clean. : /

 

[smugDrew]

First, I use a grey Apple cloth - from ages ago, to remove dust, then I just spray a little Windex onto a soft cotton cloth and clean the glass surface - works great!

 

[ormie]

I have heard that there is a supposed "light" inside of a laptop that is suppose to turn on when you "spill" something on your laptop. : /[/QUOTE]

No, that's the light to illuminate the keys in low light and can be adjusted to a brightness you prefer.


Cheers, Macjim.

 

[maclaptop]

Use a barely damp papertowel, but do not drench the thing. Squeeze as much water off of it as you can before wiping anything with it.

Respectfully, this is the worst thing you can do. The paper will scratch a display. Get yourself some microfiber towels, they're inexpensive, readily available, and when dampened with a bit of warm water, its the very best way to clean any display.

 

[socialmarker]

I bought my MacBook in Sweden as well and I use the cloth that came with the laptop, the one from Apple. Works fine for me!

 

[Jiten]

+1 for those who said that using a soft thin cloth or the foam to cover the keyboard when closing the laptop to prevent dirt from smudging the screen. When cleaning I just get a quality Microfiber cloth and use warm water for stubborn oils and dirt.

 

[Macsavvytech]

+1 for those who said that using a soft thin cloth or the foam to cover the keyboard when closing the laptop to prevent dirt from smudging the screen. When cleaning I just get a quality Microfiber cloth and use warm water for stubborn oils and dirt.

Tap water contains heavy metals.

 

[Jiten]

Tap water contains heavy metals.

Been using tap to clean my laptop screens since my Powerbook 170, no problems so far.

 

[McGiord]

Tap water contains heavy metals.

Wow! That it's cool man: Iron Maiden? Where do you live? in my case I only get simple plain bad tasting tap water. No even the fart of an 80s Hair Metal band member.



+1 for using a damp wet kitchen non abrasive paper towel. Sometime I use a clorox wipe.
Hand Sanitizer/alcohol for spots, then the damp wet paper towel/napkin.
and the microfiber cloth will do the work, but they get nasty and unhealthy after a few uses. How do you guys do? Replace them all the time or wash them?

If your keyboard is collecting all that grease from your fingers is better to wash you hands from time to time, and clean the keys, a clorox wipe will do the job as well as any of the above, just be careful with the wetness through the keyholes.

 

[' r i S e n]

Respectfully, this is the worst thing you can do. The paper will scratch a display. Get yourself some microfiber towels, they're inexpensive, readily available, and when dampened with a bit of warm water, its the very best way to clean any display.

A damp paper towel can scratch something? really?

 

[ann713]

Lens cleaners/microfiber wipes, the only way to get it looking like it did out of the box.

 

[' r i S e n]

What's the best thing to do, then? (besides the Microfiber Wipes)

Is bottled Water okay? If not, what should I use?

Might as well convert now while my display is still looking new. o.o

 

[macDelirium]

Ajax Spray and Wipe - Glass.

Never had a problem using it and my screen is perfectly clean.

 

[fkhan3]

I use iKlear on all my gadgets. It does an amazing job

 

[Jiten]

What's the best thing to do, then? (besides the Microfiber Wipes)

Is bottled Water okay? If not, what should I use?

Might as well convert now while my display is still looking new. o.o

If you are really OC about your screen many recommend distilled water or iKlear (I tried it before and it is a good product but more $$$ then I"m willing to spend regularly just to clean my notebooks).

But seriously, I'm the kind of guy who would look at my laptop screen on all angles while shining light on it to make sure I didn't scuff it or leave micro-scratches and never had problems with ordinary tap water and a quality microfiber cloth.

 

[' r i S e n]

If you are really OC about your screen many recommend distilled water or iKlear (I tried it before and it is a good product but more $$$ then I"m willing to spend regularly just to clean my notebooks).

But seriously, I'm the kind of guy who would look at my laptop screen on all angles while shining light on it to make sure I didn't scuff it or leave micro-scratches and never had problems with ordinary tap water and a quality microfiber cloth.

I use regular tap water as well but the chemicals in it vary from place to place.

I think I'm just going to start using bottled water and start off with the microfiber cloth that came with the laptop and eventually buy more. I figure with using bottled water - one bottle will last a while since I won't really be pouring it on ... just dabbing it.

Then again, I'm not really sure what makes me think bottled water is better than tap water for cleaning...