How to properly clean your monitor or HD TV

LCD screens are the standard now for both computer monitors and TVs. They look great, come in large sizes, are expensive, and fragile. The days of grabbing a bottle of windex and cleaning your 100 pound screen with anything you had handy are gone. If you try this with todays screens you will be left with a yellowed, foggy, and probably scratched monitor.

How do I safely clean my LCD?

The only safe way recommended by manufacturers is with a soft, lint-free cloth and distilled water. Do not use any chemicals or anything made of paper. Mist the cloth with the water and buff the screen as softly as you can. Pressure can and will scratch or crack the screen.

What can I get away with?

Pure water is great advice, but sometimes you need a deeper cleaning. Water doesn’t dissolve oils such as fingerprints, smoke, and many other contaminants. To stay within the manufacturer guidelines the answer is to just deal with it, though for many of us that isn’t a solution.

I can offer up suggestions based on my personal experience but this comes with a warning: Your mileage may vary.

There are many commercial products made for cleaning LCD screens, some are good, some not so much. They can be expensive and caveat emptor (Let the buyer beware). Make sure that you read reviews before buying such a solution and avoid anything containing ammonia like the plague. One product that has good reviews by people I trust is Klear screen products.

I have had great success with a solution of mostly distilled water, isopropyl alcohol, and some white vinegar. I’m still working on the best ratios for this cleaner to maximize the cleaning power, reduce streaking, and minimize the risk of damage to the screen.

As for cloths, a lens cleaning cloth from a camera shop is what I use.

Spray your cleaning solution directly onto the cloth and lightly buff the screen. Gentle pressure is the key. Do not spray onto the screen as the solution can run down the screen and into the bezel, shorting out the computer or monitor.

That’s it?

That’s all there is to it. You can use this same technique with the outer surfaces of most electronics as well. Your laptop, computer case, keyboard, or mouse. Just remember to shut everything down before you clean and you will be fine.