How to Clean a Laptop Screen With Household Products

by mdkelsh

27K510

Intro: How to Clean a Laptop Screen With Household Products

This guide will show you just how to clean that dirty laptop screen with Windex, or other glass cleaning products that you may have lying around your house. All you need is a few simple supplies.

STEP 1: What You Will Need

You will need
  • Paper Towels
  • Water
  • A spray bottle, like an old windex bottle
  • One laptop with a filthy screen
  • Hands
  • Half a brain

Also, make sure that you do not put the water directly on the screen.

STEP 2: Spraying and Wiping

Now that you have all of the supplies, we will commence the cleaning.

First, take a single paper towel (mine are small so I used two) and fold it in half from any side. Next fold it in half so you have it in a shape roughly square.

Next, using a spray bottle, spray the water on the paper towel, you may be tempted to spray it on the screen, but do not, it could drip down or leak, causing havoc on your laptop.

Then using any pattern or motion, wipe the screen until you are satisfied with it.
(This may take several times of wiping)

STEP 3: More Cleaning

Personally, my keyboard gets really dirty as well, so does my touch pad. So I like to clean those off as well. You pretty much follow the same steps as before, but just as before, do not spray the cleaner directly on the item you are cleaning, and make sure to dry it throughly. After you are finished, you should have a clean laptop.

10 Comments

ExturnalRemedies 11 years ago

Okay, as an individual with over 10 years experience in computer repair, technology, and media services, I will offer not what I have heard but what I have personally seen throughout the years.

A, Windex works perfectly fine with CRT monitors, the surface is glass and the only cases I have seen "ammonia in the Windex reacts with the anti reflective coating" is simply someone not cleaning the screen properly. Once a competent person cleans the screen, it is fine. I have never ever seen permanent damage to a CRT screen from ammonia based glass cleaner.

Into the 21st century. Very few lcd monitors have a true glass top pane. If it is truly glass, then any glass cleaner will work fine. However, MOST ARE NOT GLASS, so do not use glass cleaner.

I have seen the effect of glass cleaner on lcd screens in well over 30 individual cases. As a few others have stated, the screen does indeed turn hazy and depending on severity, can become quite useless. I have never seen or heard of these other claims through my professional experience.

IT Guy

mdkelsh 16 years ago

I must not have noticed it because my screen was a piece of crap

tri0xin 16 years ago

Don't do this! We had a kid stain the screen of a new monitor at work by dousing it with windex. One side of the screen now has a nasty looking water stain down the side from windex getting underneath. I understand he sprayed directly onto it, but I'm sure using small amount over time will make the screen hazy.

ac1D 16 years ago

never do that!

gamer 16 years ago

i thought i read somewhere that windex and laptop screen makes a chemical burning reaction... but i could have read wrong... and i also think i've already seen a simmular instructable. so, already been done. nice pictures thought. -gamer

GorillazMiko 16 years ago

Nicely done. Imagine it blew up!

That would be awesome, but not for you.
Nice job!