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Cleaning my MBP

P

Peter Lorre

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 28, 2007
13
0
So... this is a little issue but I thought I would ask. I just moved up from a 14" iBook G4 to a 17" MBP (Hi-Rez) and I am in love. The only small problem I am having is how to keep it nice and clean. It seems that everytime some small bit of moisture gets on the beautiful to the touch silver surface, and I whip it off, it leaves a... I dont know how to say it... blemish. I want to show this computer of but the slight blemishes are a little distracting.

Any tips for cleaning them up with out leaving another blemish (which I have already done)?

I hope you all know what I mean by blemishes. You can just tell where the moisture was. Not discoloration or anything.

Thanks,
Joe
 
No one? Really?

Does no one have an issue with this? Was hoping it was a common minor issue that had an easy solution. Ah well.

Joe
 
I'm also interested in people's opinion on this. I'm noticing some subtle marks where my palms rest.
 
i always get them on my gfs powerbook, like a "salt mark" i guess its just the grease from your hands, rubbing it with a cloth or your finger gets rid of it
 
I use iKlear and it seems to be able to remove everything. I also use an external keyboard and mouse most of the time so I get as little crap on it as possible. I'd prefer to replace a $40 keyboard then have to be super cautious about getting my MBP dirty all the time.
 
Macs have manuals? I better call Apple and check this out. The manual says to use water with a clean, soft. lint-free cloth. With respect to the screen, anyone who has every cleaned a window or any other glass surface will be aware that using water by itself leaves streaks. If it didn't, products like Windex wouldn't exist. Apple indicates to use water for legal reasons. If they tell you to use something else and it damages your computer, they would be liable.
 
Use rubbing alcohol

You can use isopropanol (commonly: rubbing alcohol) to clean pretty much anything on your laptop / computer. It doesn't conduct electricity (won't kill your computer), evaporates almost immediately (therefore leaves no streak marks), and is a fairly decent organic solvent (so stuff will come off). You can also use acetone (nail polish remover), but it smells pretty bad.

Use a lint free cloth (like the ones they sell for glasses) and a can of compressed air. I actually like a shop vacuum cleaner for the keyboard though b/c compressed air blows half of the stuff down into your motherboard and then you'll have to open up the case to clean that :)
 
If you're going to use alcohol, do not use a 90% mix of it, such as those you buy at the pharmacy. Dilute it to about a 50/50 mix with water. As I mentioned before, I would get a product that is actually intended for cleaning a screen. It doesn't have to be iKlear like I use. You dropped $2000 on a laptop, do you really want to use something that costs $0.99 to clean the screen at a risk of damaging it?
 
antibact1 said:
If you're going to use alcohol, do not use a 90% mix of it, such as those you buy at the pharmacy. Dilute it to about a 50/50 mix with water. As I mentioned before, I would get a product that is actually intended for cleaning a screen. It doesn't have to be iKlear like I use. You dropped $2000 on a laptop, do you really want to use something that costs $0.99 to clean the screen at a risk of damaging it?
Click to expand...

I work in a chemistry lab and have access to the 100% variety. Use it all the time with no problems. There's a compelling argument for not dissolving as the more water you get in there, the more chance that you're going to have some ions dissolved and the solution will conduct electricity.

If you are going to dilute it anyway, use deionized water, NOT tap water! Deionized water is the stuff they sell for irons. (But you shouldn't drink it).

I think its silly to pay $10 for iKlean when it's main ingredient is alcohol...
 
I'm not saying it doesn't clean. Alcohol is the base of many industrial cleaners. An LCD screen on your MBP however isn't in an industrial setting, it's a thin film that is very sensitive to the use of cleaning agents. Alcohol will clean your LCD, it's a question of what else it's doing to it. And iKlear contains no alcohol or ammonia or anything else that typical cleaning products contain.

The moral of the story, use whatever you want, it's your computer. If what you use damages it, it's your fault.
 
antibact1 said:
And iKlear contains no alcohol or ammonia or anything else that typical cleaning products contain.
Click to expand...

That's really interesting... it's got to have some sort of solvent or it wouldn't do anything. Do you happen to have a bottle with the ingredients? I've never tried the stuff, but maybe I'll mix up my own :)
 
basicfiend said:
You can also use acetone (nail polish remover), but it smells pretty bad.
Click to expand...

Acetone can entirely screw up (read: dissolve) some plastics, and I would not use that on any computer hardware unless you knew beforehand that it was okay with that specific piece of equipment.

Use isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Cheap and works well. Cleans oils and most salts that will end up on a laptop. Added bonus: can be used to safely clean/remove thermal paste, if you ever so desire.
 
basicfiend said:
That's really interesting... it's got to have some sort of solvent or it wouldn't do anything. Do you happen to have a bottle with the ingredients? I've never tried the stuff, but maybe I'll mix up my own :)
Click to expand...

The bottle doesn't say what it contains, other than it is some special formula that contains no alcohol or ammonia. Sorry :(
 
A microfiber cloth usually works for all my computers and their screens; stubborn spots I use a bit of water to moisten the cloth (not dripping of course!).
 
basicfiend said:
That's really interesting... it's got to have some sort of solvent or it wouldn't do anything. Do you happen to have a bottle with the ingredients? I've never tried the stuff, but maybe I'll mix up my own :)
Click to expand...

I realize this post is old, but thought I'd respond to this question. .77% Proprietary ingredients, .13% Methyl Paraben and 99.1% Water.

Sourced from the company MSDS
 
Thanks!

So if I just ran out of Iklean, it sounds like water is the way to go until I can get a new bottle?
 
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