Cleaning LCD and Plasma TV screens

Rottie · 02. Oct 2010, 11:03 PM

I have surfed the web on this subject and read it all, there is a lot of it.

Advice varies from treating the screen with the delicate touch of a brain surgeon to washing it with tap water. Whatever all these people say, they swear it works fine with absolutely no damage. Vinegar, washing up liquid, window cleaning fluid, PC cleaning patches - the list is endless.

Whilst I treat my screen with utmost respect like walking on thin ice, others do not and it seems OK. Greasy finger marks after playing with burgers, messy spillage, dogs licking it, children daubing just about anything on it, even writing on it with chalk or Biro pens. It all sounds horrific, but nobody has damaged their screens beyond repair that I have read and their magic potions seem to work.

Advice from Mr.100% :-
"Think of LCD Displays just like the soft and delicate skin of your newborn baby - Be very gentle and never put even the slightest pressure on the computer screen with your hand."

Isopropyl alcohol appears to be the magic ingredient for removing stains etc, coupled with a variety of elaborate cloths. Smears prove difficult to avoid.

Can anybody please cut through all this confusing advice and remedies and just let me know what YOU do ?

Many thanks

jim · 03. Oct 2010, 09:18 AM

I suppose my silly (but true) answer is - I don't. I have tried all the given remedies for both my monitor and my TV but nothing really works. As you say, I try not to touch or splash them but things happen.

All I do now is clean them with a soft, yellow duster (to get rid of the dust) and, if there is a particular spot, I just use a wet finger and then the yellow duster as the resulting mark is less that the spot.

Ritho · 03. Oct 2010, 11:25 AM

Me? I keep my 22" in a bullet proof glass cage. I wanted to buy transparent aluminum, but it appears to be very hard to find, and I imagine it is quite expensive as well.

Actually I just clean mine with a slightly damp and very soft microfiber cloth designed for cleaning plastic eye glasses or specially coated camera lenses. Microfiber is your best bet because it will clean things off of objects that sometimes harsh detergents can't seem to conquer.

I will give you another tip. My wife's laptop was sitting below a little shelf one day with the screen open, and our little girl knocked a picture frame down and it scraped across the screen. It has one of those glossy look screens. While the scratch it left was not that visible from straight on, from the side it looked quite bad. I tried using soft cloths to buff it as was suggested online and it did not help. Then I remembered something I saw once about polishing badly scratched ipod screens and dvd's with brasso. (fine metal polish) I applied a small amount to a soft cloth and ever so gently rubbed the scratch. In less than a minute the scratch was almost totally invisible. A little more buffing and you would never even know it was scratched.

If you can get Silvo it would probably be even better and safer than Brasso because it even less abrasive. I have used Brasso a lot on cds and dvd's and it works quite well as long as the scratches are not too deep. I have since used it on a cell phone screen, and a pair of eye glasses and it worked very well in these applications too!

Rottie · 03. Oct 2010, 12:46 PM

Ritho my regular friend, I love your posts.

My intuition is that as always, the puritanical theorists go for the absolute and impractical solution. We live in a world where the bubble of anti-infection does not exist. Unlike Howard Hughes, we have to survive in the real World where creepy crawlies and impractical methods are out.

I suppose that using a Black & Decker sander disc would be ideal to satisfy the boffins in the laboratory. But I live in a World of economic sanity and a few drops of some ordinary fluid you can get from the local hardware store, seems a more than sensible solution.

What the boffins do not realise is that the ideal solution is not always an answer to a problem. If you have a coolant problem in the desert with no water around, pee in the radiator and it will work perfectly OK to get you home. That is providing you have drunk enough hooch to support the output.

Ritho · 03. Oct 2010, 01:04 PM

Try the windshield washer fluid first if you have any, its easier on the hoses.

02. Oct 2010, 11:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
Rottie Banned Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK - London Posts: 17	Cleaning LCD and Plasma TV screens I have surfed the web on this subject and read it all, there is a lot of it. Advice varies from treating the screen with the delicate touch of a brain surgeon to washing it with tap water. Whatever all these people say, they swear it works fine with absolutely no damage. Vinegar, washing up liquid, window cleaning fluid, PC cleaning patches - the list is endless. Whilst I treat my screen with utmost respect like walking on thin ice, others do not and it seems OK. Greasy finger marks after playing with burgers, messy spillage, dogs licking it, children daubing just about anything on it, even writing on it with chalk or Biro pens. It all sounds horrific, but nobody has damaged their screens beyond repair that I have read and their magic potions seem to work. Advice from Mr.100% :- "Think of LCD Displays just like the soft and delicate skin of your newborn baby - Be very gentle and never put even the slightest pressure on the computer screen with your hand." Isopropyl alcohol appears to be the magic ingredient for removing stains etc, coupled with a variety of elaborate cloths. Smears prove difficult to avoid. Can anybody please cut through all this confusing advice and remedies and just let me know what YOU do ? Many thanks

03. Oct 2010, 11:25 AM	#3 (permalink)
Ritho Foundation Editor Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 1,391	Me? I keep my 22" in a bullet proof glass cage. I wanted to buy transparent aluminum, but it appears to be very hard to find, and I imagine it is quite expensive as well. Actually I just clean mine with a slightly damp and very soft microfiber cloth designed for cleaning plastic eye glasses or specially coated camera lenses. Microfiber is your best bet because it will clean things off of objects that sometimes harsh detergents can't seem to conquer. I will give you another tip. My wife's laptop was sitting below a little shelf one day with the screen open, and our little girl knocked a picture frame down and it scraped across the screen. It has one of those glossy look screens. While the scratch it left was not that visible from straight on, from the side it looked quite bad. I tried using soft cloths to buff it as was suggested online and it did not help. Then I remembered something I saw once about polishing badly scratched ipod screens and dvd's with brasso. (fine metal polish) I applied a small amount to a soft cloth and ever so gently rubbed the scratch. In less than a minute the scratch was almost totally invisible. A little more buffing and you would never even know it was scratched. If you can get Silvo it would probably be even better and safer than Brasso because it even less abrasive. I have used Brasso a lot on cds and dvd's and it works quite well as long as the scratches are not too deep. I have since used it on a cell phone screen, and a pair of eye glasses and it worked very well in these applications too! __________________ The smallest good deed is better than the greatest intention.

03. Oct 2010, 01:04 PM	#5 (permalink)
Ritho Foundation Editor Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 1,391	Try the windshield washer fluid first if you have any, its easier on the hoses. __________________ The smallest good deed is better than the greatest intention.

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03. Oct 2010, 09:18 AM	#2 (permalink)
jim Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: near Ashford Kent England Posts: 304	I suppose my silly (but true) answer is - I don't. I have tried all the given remedies for both my monitor and my TV but nothing really works. As you say, I try not to touch or splash them but things happen. All I do now is clean them with a soft, yellow duster (to get rid of the dust) and, if there is a particular spot, I just use a wet finger and then the yellow duster as the resulting mark is less that the spot.

03. Oct 2010, 12:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
Rottie Banned Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK - London Posts: 17	Ritho my regular friend, I love your posts. My intuition is that as always, the puritanical theorists go for the absolute and impractical solution. We live in a world where the bubble of anti-infection does not exist. Unlike Howard Hughes, we have to survive in the real World where creepy crawlies and impractical methods are out. I suppose that using a Black & Decker sander disc would be ideal to satisfy the boffins in the laboratory. But I live in a World of economic sanity and a few drops of some ordinary fluid you can get from the local hardware store, seems a more than sensible solution. What the boffins do not realise is that the ideal solution is not always an answer to a problem. If you have a coolant problem in the desert with no water around, pee in the radiator and it will work perfectly OK to get you home. That is providing you have drunk enough hooch to support the output.