How to clean an LCD monitor

[kevinbythebeach]

any ideas? wet? dry? air?

[Colin Southern]

any ideas? wet? dry? air?

Best I've found is to use a bit of "huff" and a lot of light wiping with a soft cloth. I tried a baby wipe once - BIG MISTAKE - it left a LOT of streaks that took forever to get rid of.

Goes without saying that any kind of alcohol / chemical type cleaner is likely to damage the screen. You can also buy "special" screen cleaning kits - can't say I've got too hung up about them personally.

[carregwen]

If you get proper lens-cleaning wet tissues (not baby-wipes which often have other additives) they are quite safe. They are designed to work on spectacles glass so they should be fine with an LCD screen which is just glass. Get the ones that are individually sealed. Never use them to clean a SENSOR. You know that of course... but I heard a story last week from a camera-shop owner who claimed a customer had cleaned his sensor with a cotton bud.

[bmpress]

If you get proper lens-cleaning wet tissues (not baby-wipes which often have other additives) they are quite safe. They are designed to work on spectacles glass so they should be fine with an LCD screen which is just glass. Get the ones that are individually sealed. Never use them to clean a SENSOR. You know that of course... but I heard a story last week from a camera-shop owner who claimed a customer had cleaned his sensor with a cotton bud.

Of course another solution would be to shellac one's nose....LOL

[Colin Southern]

I heard a story last week from a camera-shop owner who claimed a customer had cleaned his sensor with a cotton bud.

I've had an "interesting experience" with that ...

Back in my 20D days I had a dealer supplied cleaning kit that consisted of Visible Dust sensor cleaning solution, and individually sealed (medical) long-stem cotton buds ... and it actually worked very well.

Unfortunately, the buds ran out and my "brillient plan" was to use some "cheap and nasty" long-stem buds from the chemist (not individually sealed), with the plan being that they would remove the stuck on gunk, and then my Arctic Butterfly would pick up any dust left by the cheap buds. Not quite sure quite went so badly wrong, but I ended up with patterns on the sensor that almost looked like bacteria chains.

To cut a long story short, I had to send it to Canon twice -- and they had to remove the sensor (apparantly using a $2,000,000 piece of machinery to re-align it) (twice). Was looking at a NZD $7000 repair bill if they'd had to replace the sensor

... I've stuck with Visable Dust sensor swabs since then.

They are designed to work on spectacles glass so they should be fine with an LCD screen which is just glass.

I think I'd be somewhat cautious trying that - I think that many have a plastic component on the front of the screen.

[carregwen]

Not quite sure quite went so badly wrong, but I ended up with patterns on the sensor that almost looked like bacteria chains.

I think they are called 'loose strands of cotton'


I use Opticlear wipes, and they claim they are OK for both glass and plastic.

[kevinbythebeach]

I am guessing that " Huff" means blowing on the monitor with your mouth and that
Cotton buds = Qtips?


Ive read that compressed air is bad becasue it can jame dirt particles into your screen and Ive read the same thing about wet cleaning too...I guess there is no safe way to clean it except a clean soft cloth maybe dampened with ultra clean distilled water..

[Amberglass]

I use CleanDr. It's alcohol and ammonia free. Just spay onto cleaning cloth that comes with solution and wipe away dirt, dust, and finger prints. Smells like raspberries too. Safe to use on the back of your camera's lcd screen too.

[Colin Southern]

I think they are called 'loose strands of cotton'

Not sure - the bit I don't get is why even the likes of sensor swaps failed to move them in the slightest - even Canon (after removing the sensor) only got rid of 1/2 of them in the camera's first trip back to them (and apparantly they had to wait an extra couple of days for some special cleaning fluid to be couriered in).

[Colin Southern]

I am guessing that " Huff" means blowing on the monitor with your mouth and that
Cotton buds = Qtips?

Yes.

Ive read that compressed air is bad becasue it can jame dirt particles into your screen

I doubt that compressed air would do much anyway - mostly the dirt is too fine and too firmly attached for compressed air to move it.

I guess there is no safe way to clean it except a clean soft cloth maybe dampened with ultra clean distilled water..

The "huff" of breath is essentially distilled water (being water vapour in the warm breath that consensates onto the cooler monitor surface).

[kevinbythebeach]

well thank god my monitor is only 19 inches and I dont smoke,,dunno what ppl with larger monitors do,.,,hehe

[carregwen]

dunno what ppl with larger monitors do,.,,hehe

Worry about it more...