alcohol damage lcd screen for sale

Screens, especially touchscreens, collect a lot of dirt, grease and hair. This means that periodic cleaning is something we all have to and should do.

Now, plenty of people get away with wiping a smartphone screen against their t-shirt or pants or using a sleeve to clean a laptop display, but this is not the best way and can itself damage the display.

Do a quick search on the internet, and you"ll find that isopropyl alcohol is the weapon of choice in cleaning displays. This is true, but if used incorrectly, this chemical can also damage the display.

The big DON"T of using isopropyl alcohol is this -- don"t pour or even spray isopropyl alcohol on your display. If you put too much isopropyl alcohol on a screen, damage can occur in two ways:The isopropyl alcohol can seep between the layers of the display, completely ruining it and requiring the device to have a replacement screen fitted

I got this to clean my computer LCD screens. My large ones were dusty and just generally dirty and the built-in screen on my laptop had gotten some specks from opening soda cans near it and was just grimy from being exposed to less-controlled environments than an office. I was worried about whether the laptop screen would ever get clean.

I finally had no choice, though, so I tried this one and it worked brilliantly. The brush got off the dust first. As some others have mentioned, some of the brush pieces fell out during this process, but it didn"t make any difference because it worked. Then I sprayed the cleaner on the microfiber cloth and went at it. It cleaned away all the Belkin streaks I"d been living with for a couple of years and left the screen completely clean.

Then I used it on the laptop and it took those soft drink spots right off and left that screen looking like new. I finally used it on a new LCD monitor that only needed light cleaning and that one also came out perfect. Today, I used it on my iPad. It had gotten some tiny spots on the glass screen that wouldn"t come off with just a dry microfiber cloth. (I"ve got to stop drinking soda at my desk!) This took care of that with no problem.

Overall, I can"t imagine what else anyone would want out of this. After cleaning every display surface I own, the bottle is still almost completely full, so I"ll probably never have to buy LCD cleaner for the rest of my life. I highly recommend this product.

Alcohol breaks up the human oils that creates smudges on the screen, your supposed to tab a little on a cloth and then wipe the oil away, then use a new clean spot and repeat, removing the oil onto the cloth as the alcohol evaporates fast.

Don"t make the mistake of thinking that LCD screens work like your nifty new iPad. In general, touching should be off limits because pressing too hard on the screen can actually break or crack pixels. So the first rule to cleaning an LCD screen is don"t do it unless you have to (i.e. unless it"s actually dirty).

Many retailers offer special cleaning solutions for LCD screens, but the truth is that most of these are made up primarily of water. So, if you don"t want to take the time to go buy a cleaner or you want to save the money (maybe to put toward that "What Not to Wear" dress), you can just make your own LCD cleaner by mixing water with some vinegar or isopropyl alcohol -- the solution should be no more than 50/50.

You could even start with plain water and see if you need the vinegar or alcohol, which will come in handy when you"re trying to wipe away greasy fingerprints. Some people recommend only using distilled water, but regular water works fine, according to Dave Chipman from Sharp.

Unless you want to end up with a melted, discolored, hazy or scratched LCD screen, steer clear of all spray cleaners. In particular, don"t use any solvent cleaners that include acetone, ethyl alcohol, ethyl acid, ammonia or methyl chloride. You also want to avoid using any materials that could potentially scratch the screen"s delicate surface. Opt for a soft, clean, cotton cloth instead of wood-based products like paper towels and tissues. Chipman suggests using a microfiber cloth for best results.

If you"re lucky enough to have a service come in and do your cleaning for you, make sure they don"t inadvertently ruin your television or monitor by trying to clean it with something like glass cleaner. You should either take the time to explain -- and maybe even demonstrate -- how you want your LCD screen cleaned or just ask your cleaner to leave this particular job for you.

Before you give into your impulses and wipe your screen with whatever you have at hand, let us stop you right there. Your display is way more delicate than you think, and if you want it to last a long time in optimal conditions, you’ll need to treat it with proper love and care.

The good news is that cleaning a computer screen is more simple than you think. You only need a soft cloth, a tiny bit of water, and the most delicate of touches.

As you would expect, not all screens are created equal, and some are more delicate than others. The safest way to figure out the proper care for your screen is to search for the make and model of your device, find out if it has an LCD, LED, or some other type of display, and search for the manufacturer’s instructions on how to care for it.

If you want to skip all that, there’s an easy way to avoid making a mistake that might not only result in irreparable damage to your screen but to your entire device. According to Joe Silverman, owner of New York Computer Help, a tech repair center in New York City, no matter how much money you spent on your computer or tablet, it probably has an LED or an LCD screen if you bought it within the last three years—and neither type benefits from window cleaner or highly concentrated alcohol.

That’s the uppermost layer of your screen, which is extremely sensitive to the acidity in alcohol and in compounds like ammonia or propylene glycol. These are often present in cleaning agents such as window cleaners and degreasers. Using these liquids will corrode the surface of your screen, resulting in scratches or even smudges you won’t be able to get rid of.

Things get even trickier when you’re dealing with touchscreens. On models like the Microsoft Surface, the display is the main input—as opposed to your mouse or trackpad on a regular laptop—so it’s ultra-sensitive, Silverman says. Using a strong liquid cleaner like a degreaser or a bleach-based disinfectant can obliterate the top layer on the screen. Combine that with high pressure, and you can kiss your fancy touchscreen computer goodbye.

Another downside to newer computers is their size and weight. If you decided to splurge on a new laptop, for example, you probably found one that has top-notch components, but also a slick, lightweight design. This format is only possible if everything in your laptop is smaller and thinner. In the case of your display, a thinner screen means a weaker barrier between your computer’s guts and the elements in the outside world.

Caring for your screen is simple—it only takes a little bit of water and a dust-free cloth, such as a microfiber wipe or the piece of fabric that came with your glasses.

First, turn off your computer and disconnect the charger. This might sound paranoid, but the benefit is twofold—you avoid any chance of triggering an electrical surge, and your screen will remain black, which will make it easier to see any dirt and grime.

Pour a couple drops of water on your cloth. Forget paper towels or the sleeve of that soft cotton t-shirt you love—microfiber is your best bet. Still, no matter how soft it is, a dry wipe could always leave micro-abrasions on your screen. The moisture will also help gather dust and particles while lifting grease from your display.

Use circular motions starting in the center of your screen and moving outward, so you don’t leave any streaks. If you can see any droplets or water traces on the glass while you clean, you’ve used way too much water. Gently dab the residual H2O with an absorbent cloth or tissue paper and start again.

If you’re dealing with next-level gunk, you can use isopropyl alcohol at 70 percent or lower, Silverman says. “That percentage is very important,” he explains. “We’d only use 90 percent or higher on dummy parts that don’t have sensors, like top cases and keyboards.” In these extreme cases, spray the alcohol on the cloth, never directly on the screen, and wipe it gently.

Just like solar damage, screen damage is cumulative. The more pressure you apply, the more abrasive a product you use, and the more often you use it, the greater the damage you’re inflicting on the protective layer of your display and the delicate sensors underneath it.

Maybe you can get away with using a high percentage of alcohol or even a window cleaner on your computer screen once or twice. But if you keep at it, eventually you’ll see the deleterious effects.

“You’ll see discoloration, lines (vertical and horizontal); sometimes it looks pretty and rainbow-like,” Silverman says. “Sometimes it’ll blink and sometimes you’ll see droplets of water or liquid in the back of the screen. There’s a lot of ways in which damage appears.”

The best way to avoid damaging your screen while cleaning it is to simply keep it from getting dirty in the first place. If you have a laptop, cover the keyboard with a thin microfiber cloth before closing it to prevent finger grease from transferring to the screen. If you have a touchscreen, wash your hands often before you use it, but make sure you let your hands dry completely before you start tapping—the soapy water or liquid hand cleanser from your fingers can easily end up on the screen and corrode it.

Your phone was designed to be carried, dropped, tapped, swiped, smashed against your face for long periods of time, and stowed in the deepest corners of your bag. In other words, its screen is way more resilient than your computer’s.

Silverman explains that most iPhones and Samsung phones, for example, have screens made out of one thick piece of glass. These, as opposed to computer screens, have all the LCD layers fused together, making them much more difficult to damage. Still, if you’re using alcohol, he recommends keeping the concentration at 70 percent or lower, using a soft cloth, and applying only low pressure to get rid of any accumulated gunk there.

Be especially careful with charging ports, as contact with water (also present in rubbing alcohol) can damage the electronics inside your smartphone. Newer models often are resistant to liquids, but there’s always a threshold to how much they can withstand. And you probably don’t want to know what that is.

Replacing the screen of your computer or smartphone can be expensive, and even if that’s not an issue for you, no one wants their devices to fail when they need them the most. So remember these tips well—we hope you never have to read this article again.

Dirt, dust, and fingerprint smudges aren"t likely to do any long-term damage to your gaming monitor(opens in new tab), but they still suck. Why pay all that money for a nice screen only to have the visual fidelity brought down by smudges and dust. Let"s face it, your monitor is filthy—it"s time to clean it.

First off, avoid corrosive substances! That means no alcohol- or ammonia-based cleaners (like diluted rubbing alcohol or Windex). These cleaners can damage your screen by stripping anti-reflective coatings, cause clouding, or worse. Monitors have come a long way from the giant glass bulbs of old-school CRT screens, but that means they"re a lot more sensitive too.

Next, be careful what you use to wipe the screen. Paper towels might seem like a good option, but at a microscopic level, they"re actually quite abrasive. Ditto to t-shirts or other household rags, which might be harboring a stowaway spec of sand, metal, or something else that could scratch up your display in a single wipe.

Finally, you never want to spray your cleaning agent directly onto your monitor. Excess liquid runs the risk of pooling in the corner of your screen, seeping in through tiny weak spots and wreaking havoc on the sensitive materials inside.

2. Wipe it —As for what you wipe with, microfiber cloth is your best friend. Microfiber is extremely soft (at a microscopic level) and known for attracting dust and absorbing oils. Most importantly, it won"t damage your screen. We like these(opens in new tab), or these(opens in new tab) if you want to step up to a more plush option.

3. Wet it —For a little bit of extra cleaning power, slightly dampen your cloth with distilled water (no impurities to cause accidental damage), but not so much that water can be wrung out of it. Remember, we don"t want liquid to run down the screen and collect in the edges and corners. If water alone isn"t doing the trick, mix a cleaning solution of 50 percent distilled water, 50 percent white household vinegar. Same deal as before—apply liquid to the cloth, not the screen.

Now sit back, relax and enjoy the cleanest screen you"ve looked at in a while. Just remember to think of us now and then while you"re enjoying your gaming visual experience to its fullest capacity.

Screens can scratch easily, and even paper towels and tissues contain fibers that can do damage. “Your best bet is to use a soft, anti-static microfiber cloth—the kind used to clean eyeglasses and camera lenses—and wipe in a circular motion,” says John Walsh, who cleans more than 250 TVs a year in his role as a CR photographer. (Some TV manufacturers will include a cloth for this purpose.) “Gently wipe the screen with a dry cloth to remove dust and other debris, but don’t press too hard,” he says.

If there are hard-to-remove stains, you can dampen the cloth slightly with distilled water and gently clean the screen. Don’t spray water directly onto the screen; that could cause a shock or component failure if water seeps into the inner workings of the set.

For the most stubborn stains, you can try using a solution of very mild dish soap highly diluted with water, once again applied to the cloth and not to the TV itself. (As a guideline, Panasonic used to recommend a 100:1 ratio of water to soap.) LCD screens, in particular, are very sensitive to pressure and can scratch easily, so don’t press hard.

Whether you’re gaming or burning the midnight oil on a work project, there’s nothing more annoying than a dirty computer screen. The only problem is that most computer screens are highly sensitive and require a delicate touch to prevent damage.

If you’ve ruined a monitor before or you want to keep that brand new laptop running smoothly, this article will provide you with all the information you could possibly need to keep your screen squeaky clean without damaging it.

Wondering how to clean your laptop screen without causing any damage? You don’t have to be a tech guru to understand that any kind of liquid getting into the hardware of your laptop spells disaster. Because of this, you should avoid liquid sprays.

One of the most common mistakes people make when attempting to clean their laptop computer screens is using a liquid cleaner. As a general rule, try to avoid them altogether, however, there are few safe liquid substances you can carefully use to clean laptop screens.

If you aren’t having much luck with a dry cloth or if you spilled something on your screen, you can try using a bit of rubbing alcohol (for non-LCD screens) if you don’t want to buy a specified cleaning product.

If you have an LCD screen, do not use rubbing alcohol as it will damage your screen. If you’re unsure about what products are safe for your laptop or you aren’t completely sure what kind of screen you have, look up the products that the manufacturer lists as restricted for cleaning.

With the right cloth or material, a cleaning substance may be completely unnecessary. Microfiber cloths are the best possible material to clean your PC with, since paper towels, household rags, and old T-shirts will scratch and damage your screen.

Of course, there will be instances where no amount of gentle wiping will remove the soda your toddler spilled on your laptop a week ago. In these circumstances, you may have to turn to a serious computer cleaning solution or rubbing alcohol. Just remember that when you clean your laptop’s screen, a delicate touch is vital to the long-term health of your display.

Sometimes you can’t splurge on ultra-expensive products when trying to clean your laptop screen and you have to rely on alternative methods. There are plenty of household items that can be used, such as rubbing alcohol. However, there are some that are dangerous to your screen which you should try to avoid.

A brand new sponge is a great way to clean a screen. You will need to lightly dampen the sponge (but not too much); the last thing you want is for water to drip down into your laptop.

If, and only if, you have a glass laptop screen, it’s safe to use Windex as a cleaner. Sturdier computers sometimes have a clear glass screen over the front of the display - much like a cell phone. A bit of Windex sprayed onto your microfiber cloth will certainly get the job done. But remember, never spray the Windex directly onto your laptop screen itself.

If you don’t have a microfiber cloth or a sponge fresh out of the package, a soft duster brush will work. A traditional feather duster might damage your screen but there’s a good chance you’ve adopted the Swiffer® duster into your household. These cleaning cloths are made from thousands of tiny polyester fibers and are the next best thing for cleaning your screen if you don’t have a microfiber cloth.

If you ever find yourself questioning the methods by which you plan to clean your laptop screen, it’s best to err on the side of caution. To take extra precaution, you can order specialized products and cleaning solutions online or pick them up at electronic stores.

Compressed gas is one of the best places to start when learning how to clean your laptop. Not only is this product great for removing the dust on your screen, but it’s also good for cleaning your keyboard as well. Dust-Off®, Endust®, and Fellowes® are all solid and reliable brands of compressed air that have withstood the test of time. They are available at grocery stores, drug stores, and computer stores, as well as many online retailers.

Bryson Screen and Laptop Cleaner is a reasonably inexpensive cleaning solution that’s as easy to use. Just spray it onto a screen-safe cleaning cloth and wipe away all of your worries.

The i-ScreenClean Ball 3-Pack is a great tool for daily cleaning and maintenance. With the i-ScreenClean ball, you can entirely avoid the use of liquids while you clean your laptop screen or monitor. Bigger problems like spills and stains will require the use of professional cleaning products, but for the most part, the cleaning ball is a great way to go.

The corners of your monitor or laptop screen are often the most difficult and frustrating to clean. Fortunately, cleaning brushes for detailing are available. The Oxo Good Grips cleaning brush is perfect for reaching into the corners of your laptop’s display. This tool will allow you to avoid the use of liquids and give your laptop a complete clean.

You can find most of these products online or at computer stores along with wipes and other cleaning supplies that were specifically designed for laptop screens and monitors.

Once you’ve cleaned your laptop screen, try to keep it that way. One of the primary reasons your screen continues to get dirty so often is because of your keyboard. Dead skin cells, dirt, and grime from your fingertips get on the keyboard and transfers to your laptop’s screen when you close it.

The best thing about touch screens, especially tablets and smartphones, is that they usually come with an additional protective screen that makes it much easier to clean. However, you should still take the same precautions that you would with a standard laptop screen.

While touch screen laptops aren’t always made of the same materials that traditional smartphones and tablets are, they may often be just as sensitive. The best thing to do is pick up a microfiber cloth and give your screen a gentle wipe down using the same techniques previously mentioned.

Unless you plan to wash your hands before each time you use your touch screen laptop, you should make an effort to clean it far more frequently. All that grime on your fingertips dragging across your screen can cause a major build up.

Touch screens are especially sensitive to pressure, so make sure you don’t press down too firmly while you’re cleaning since it could wear out the sensors or even damage them. You will also want to turn your screen off before cleaning. You wouldn’t want to accidentally send out a strange jumbled-up email to an important client while you’re cleaning.

When learning how to clean your monitor or laptop screen, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. You invested a significant amount in your laptop and other electronics. It would be wise to invest a small amount in their care and upkeep. Investing in a microfiber cloth that you keep in your desk just for your laptop, along with a cleaning solution kit might cost you a few bucks but it will cost you far more to replace a damaged computer screen from careless cleaning.

Display technology has come a long way in recent years. OLED and LCD screens are brighter, more colorful and responsive than ever before, but at some point, they all still succumb to dust, dirt and grime. What’s worse is that there are a plethora of cleaning products out there that claim they can make your screen sparkle again. But in our testing, we’ve found that the simplest route is actually the best. In this how-to, we’ll show you how to clean all the screens in your home, from TVs to smartphones.

Before we get to how to clean a screen, there are a few ways you don’t want to go about the process. The first, and most important, is that you don’t want to clean a display using substances like isopropyl alcohol or Windex. Alcohol- and ammonia-based cleaners can damage your screen’s anti-reflective coating. Using those substances repeatedly can lead to clouding and the coating becoming uneven.

Companies like Whoosh make cleaning agents that won’t damage your screen, but in my experience, you’re best off using distilled water. It’s more affordable than a dedicated cleaning agent and more versatile too since you can use it on a variety of surfaces. It also won’t leave behind any residue on your display, which is something I’ve seen products like Whoosh do occasionally. You can buy distilled water at a grocery store or make it yourself with some simple cookware.

In a pinch, you can use tap water, but we recommend against it. Depending on the hardness of the water in your area and how your municipality treats it, there may be minerals and chemicals that will again either leave behind residue or, worse yet, damage your display’s coating.

Next, be mindful of what you use to wipe your screen. You want to avoid using paper towel, dish rags and anything else that may have an abrasive surface that will damage the coating on your screen. You can use the sleeve of an old but clean t-shirt. That said, you’ll get the best results using microfiber cloths. That’s because the fabric they’re made from is extremely soft and good at attracting dust. We suggest buying a pack of them so that you always have a clean one on hand. The last thing you want to do is use a dirty one and transfer any dirt and grime onto your display.

For anything more than that, dampen your microfiber cloth with a small amount of distilled water and then gently wipe the display. Once you’ve gone over the entire surface, turn over the cloth and use the dry side to remove any excess water. At this stage, avoid buffing the screen or using excessive pressure. You don’t want to work any particles into the surface of the screen.

That’s it. You should have a clean display now. Obviously, it will take longer to clean a bigger screen, but you can put to use the tips mentioned for all types of displays, including TVs, monitors and glass smartphone displays.