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Screen Cleaning

J

JLH81

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 10, 2016
234
46
Hi All,

Just curious how often you all clean the screens on your MBA's? I'm assuming that the staingate is still a thing, so I hate to over do it. However, I have a 3 year-old that likes to touch the screen. I have just been using water to clean it, but thought I'd ask if there is a safer method to doing so?

Thanks much!
 
Good point. I did order one of those microfiber towel things that go over the keyboard when you close the laptop lid. I figured that will keep the grease from the keys off the screen.
 
JLH81 said:
Good point. I did order one of those microfiber towel things that go over the keyboard when you close the laptop lid. I figured that will keep the grease from the keys off the screen.
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If you still have the thin white paper that came with the Mac that was in between the screen and keyboard, use that. If you use something thicker, it could create a hinge problem etc. if you are using a newer Air.
 
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What is staingate? My last computer was a MBP 2011 and I was able to clean it without issue with some old screen cleaner and microfibre cloth I had, so maybe I missed "staingate" lol
 
Has anyone noticed constant smudges on their MBA M1’s screen? I keep seeing them, and I have no clue where they are coming from? I use a Radtech keyboard cover that is completely clean before closing the lid every time. Any idea where these are coming from?
 
JLH81 said:
Has anyone noticed constant smudges on their MBA M1’s screen? I keep seeing them, and I have no clue where they are coming from? I use a Radtech keyboard cover that is completely clean before closing the lid every time. Any idea where these are coming from?
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It is probably oil from your fingers. And when you close the lid, the screen comes into contact with the keyboard cover that you were just typing on.
 
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JLH81 said:
Yeah, I suppose so. Oh, well!
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If you have to close the lid when not in use, get a piece of regular notebook paper, mark 1 side to denote it is the clean side that will always come into contact with the screen. If you make sure your fingers are clean before touching the paper, you really shouldn't get any more oil smudges on your screen. If you don't need to close the screen, don't.
 
Merkava_4 said:
iKlear and the special cloth that the company recommends. Fantastic products.

klearscreen.com

iKlear 8 oz. Spray Bottle, Reg. $12.95 - Now $10.95

iKlear 8 oz Spray Bottle is sold separately as a refill for one of our many kits, is an economical way to clean your displays.
klearscreen.com klearscreen.com
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I would not use that on the screen. Apple is very clear about just using water. If that product were to damage the screen in some way, Apple may not cover it
 
Apple_Robert said:
I would not use that on the screen. Apple is very clear about just using water. If that product were to damage the screen in some way, Apple may not cover it
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It’s a perfectly acceptable cleaner. Heck Apple sold and used it in the stores for years.
 
Apple_Robert said:
It must have been in select stores. I never saw it for sale in any Apple store in the U.S. I visited.
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Lol no. It was sold in every Apple store and Apple.com for years.
Granted they stopped selling it in 2011 and changed to the inferior whoosh and now none.
 
Last edited:
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FHoff said:
Lol no. It was sold in every Apple store and Apple.com for years.
Granted they stopped selling it in 2011 and changed to the inferior whoosh and now none.
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If they stopped selling in 2011, that doesn’t necessarily mean it should still be used. You made it sound like it was actively being sold.

You laughing at my comment doesn’t make sense given the context. My post accurate given the time from of my visiting which was late 2011 forward.
 
In the 30+ Mac laptops that are in my immediate and extended family, I've used eyeglass cleaner + microfiber cloth on all of them, and recommended it to others as well. No particular brand; just visit your local pharmacy and ask for the eyeglass cleaner. It's cheap.
 
Anyway moving on. OP iKlear is a perfectly acceptable cleaner. Also Radtech makes Omnicleanz an excellent cleaner. Apple only recommending water is just to simply no longer endorse a particular 3rd party product. I use both of the above products and have for many years and never had an issue.
 
Personally I use a "glasses cleaning cloth" (I won't call it microfiber since it seems that a lot of very different cloth are called microfiber on Amazon.), like the one Apple used to bundle with their products in the Steve Jobs era (my iMac came with one, my first iPod Touch also.)

I submerge the cloth with warm water and squeeze it as hard as I can, so the cloth is only "slightly wet" and there is no full water drop coming out of it.

Then I clean the screen with it.

The trick is to clean the cloth from time to time, since it will get greasy and not clean well. The best way I've found is cleaning the cloth is hot water with dish soap. Rince very well so there is no trace of soap left on the cloth and I hang the cloth dry. Seems to give better result for me than simply putting it in laundry.
 
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/V\acpower said:
Personally I use a "glasses cleaning cloth" (I won't call it microfiber since it seems that a lot of very different cloth are called microfiber on Amazon.), like the one Apple used to bundle with their products in the Steve Jobs era (my iMac came with one, my first iPod Touch also.)

I submerge the cloth with warm water and squeeze it as hard as I can, so the cloth is only "slightly wet" and there is no full water drop coming out of it.

Then I clean the screen with it.

The trick is to clean the cloth from time to time, since it will get greasy and not clean well. The best way I've found is cleaning the cloth is hot water with dish soap. Rince very well so there is no trace of soap left on the cloth and I hang the cloth dry. Seems to give better result for me than simply putting it in laundry.
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Doesn't this leave water streaks/spots all over it the screen? How do you "dry" off the screen after wiping it with the water?
 
Apple_Robert said:
I would not use that on the screen. Apple is very clear about just using water. If that product were to damage the screen in some way, Apple may not cover it
Click to expand...
I've must've used it directly on MacBook Pro screens a thousand times by now. I started using it in 2003 when I became a Mac convert. The stuff is amazing. It doesn't roll around on the screen like water does. It spreads out evenly and pulls away from the surface beautifully with a microfiber cloth. Wonderful stuff. Even the cocobutter scent is amazing.
 
I’ll give IKlear a try! Also, I found that the Radtech keyboard cover seems to add more smudges to my screen then without. I am guessing it’s retaining my finger oils?

Anyway, guess I’ll learn to live with the keyboard marks!
 
JLH81 said:
I’ll give IKlear a try! Also, I found that the Radtech keyboard cover seems to add more smudges to my screen then without. I am guessing it’s retaining my finger oils?

Anyway, guess I’ll learn to live with the keyboard marks!
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If you put a piece of computer paper on top of the keyboard like I mentioned, you shouldn't have any keyboard marks.
 
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anything better than a damp distilled water microfiber cloth?
both of my notebooks have these 10% transparent white dots visible only in sunlight.
i should try damp rubbing alcohol on a new microfiber cloth as i do in the past.
 
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