Knowing how to clean a laptop screen is a simple but vital skill, especially in our increasingly digital, working-from-home world. If you're like me, you use your laptop almost every single day - whether it's for work, hobbies, or just watching Netflix in bed.
With that much frequent use, it's understandable that your device will get a bit dirty, especially if you've got a touchscreen laptop. Food, dust, and even imperceptible particles and bacteria can build up on your display over time. In our post-pandemic world, it's also important to remember that viruses like COVID-19 can survive on certain surfaces for several days.
Whether you're rocking the latest MacBook Air or one of the best Chromebooks, it's important to keep it clean the right way - even if it has an oleophobic layer to offer protection against fingerprints, you can wear that away with harsh cleaning chemicals.
Steps for how to clean your laptop screen
- Start by checking your cleaning cloth is free of debris
- Dilute your isopropyl alcohol down to around 60%
- Dampen your cloth and wipe the screen in circular motions
- Finish by wiping down with non-alcohol-based cleaner
Tools and requirements
- A laptop (obviously)
- A microfiber cloth
- Isopropyl alcohol
- A non-alcohol-based screen cleaner
Step by step guide
1. How to prepare your cleaning materials
Start by checking over your microfiber cloth to make sure there's no debris attached to it. Even a tiny speck of dirt on the cloth could potentially scratch your laptop screen.
Once you've done this, take your isopropyl alcohol and dilute it with purified water to reach about a 60% concentration (so if you've got 99.9% isopropyl, dilute it at a ratio of 3 parts alcohol to 2 parts water).
We do this because isopropyl diluted down as far as 60% with water is less harsh and can even be more effective than high-concentration isopropyl, because the water makes the solution better at permeating microorganism cell walls and slows the solvent’s evaporation time, increasing the time it spends in contact with any dirt or bacteria on your display.
2. How to clean your laptop screen
Do not spray any liquid directly onto your laptop screen. Instead, spray or dab the diluted isopropyl onto a microfiber cloth, then gently wipe it onto your laptop screen in small circular motions or from one end to the other. Do not drench your cloth in the cleaning solution, just dampen it.
Give the isopropyl a few seconds to evaporate, then use your non-alcohol-based screen cleaner to give the screen a final wipe-down. We do this since while isopropyl is a highly effective germ-killer, it lacks anti-static or anti-streak qualities. Bear in mind that if your laptop does have an oleophobic coating, you should check the manufacturer's guidelines before using isopropyl - it's possible that alcohol-based cleaners could damage or degrade this layer, reducing its effectiveness.
Final thoughts
There are plenty of dedicated screen-cleaning sprays available on Amazon that won't cost you too much. Keep an eye out for ones that are alcohol-free, biodegradable, and offer an anti-static formulation that will keep those dust particles off your screen for a bit longer.
Many of these will actually come with a free microfiber cloth too - just remember to use a separate cloth for your isopropyl, or you'll simply be diluting your screen cleaner with alcohol!
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