Cleaning Oily residue off iMac Retina Display

[Gary D]

My new Retina iMac had a plastic film protector stuck to the screen when I first took it out of the box. When I peeled it off, it left a sticky residue. For the first week I didn't mess with it. Later, when I tried to remove a big thumb print that I noticed, it smeared the oily residue (oily residue from the display not the thumb)everywhere I rubbed. Multiple attempts to clean it with water and a microfiber cloth just seem to smear it around more. Obviously trying to remove the oily substance with just water doesn't work and using any kind of detergent is out of the question.
Is this supposed to be there? Is this normal? Suggestions on how to remove it..

 

[mmomega]

I use http://www.spraywayinc.com/content/glass-cleaner same thing I use on all glass in my home, vehicles, laptops, iPads.
I spray a little onto a paper towel (not directly onto the screen) and wipe the screen until smudges are gone and flip the towel over to the dry side and wipe any excess spray if any.

Using this for over 10 years on anything I have with glass or plexiglass/anything clear.

 

[cruisin]

I wouldn’t recommend paper towels for cleaning. Paper isn't the softest material, and people with retina screens are having issues with the anti-reflective coating coming off. See https://www.macrumors.com/2015/03/16/retina-macbook-pro-stained-coating/

A microfibre cloth is good, but a glass cleaning cloth is better. As for the cleaner, you can buy eyeglass cleaner (which works great on fingerprint smudges) or make your own (water, isopropyl alcohol, and a drop of soap).

For me, I use the glass cleaning cloth with just water and it removes most fingerprints quite well. Sometimes there are dirtier spots, so I use a bit of eyeglass cleaner in that area.