What is the best way to clean off a LCD or laptop screen?

Is it that kind of glossy glass-like screen? Because for that, the Monster brand blue cloth works wonders. I’ve had this small blue cloth forever and it cleans all smudges, fingerprints, and dust off of my laptop screen, my camera screen, my iPhone screen, etc. It’s like magic. It doesn’t even require any liquid.

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/images/monster-screenclean.jpg

I mean something i would already have at home, like a paper towel.

@Fred931

Well, is it a matte screen or a glassy screen? http://www.blackmacbook.com/images/mods/macbook-matte-screen1.jpg (Matte is the black one on the right).

Matte screens are really hard to clean and windex and water tend to make things worse; they leave streaks on it. Glassy screens can work with just windex or water and a soft dishrag (microfiber is best of course). Don’t use Kleenex or anything, that breaks apart and leaves fibers on the screen. Just make sure you put the liquid on the rag and not on the screen directly. I don’t know how to clean a matte screen, sorry.

Edit: From Googling, most people recommend a special cloth and alcohol liquid to clean a matte screen.

glossy

If you don’t have something like a lens cloth, go out a get something specifically for that purpose. Paper towels are abrasive and could damage your screen.

Windex and most glass cleaners will also damage your screen because it has ammonia.
Any ammonia based product will damage your screen.

I would advise getting a solution specifically designed for the purpose of cleaning your lcd screen. Do not apply any fluid directly to your screen. Put a little on your non abrasive cloth and gently wipe your screen.

How about a non-ammonia Windex and a clean terry cloth?

No terry cloth. I highly advise against any Windex product because they are designed to clean glass not lcd monitors.

So the ammonia-free windex will work, as long as i apply it to the cloth first?

How nice!! Apple packed a microfiber cloth with my MacBook Pro!

Use only water and a soft cloth. Clean only when the laptop has been off for some time and the screen is cool. Put the water on the cloth, not the screen. Dry with another soft cloth.

I just thought I’d say that I used terrycloth and Windex to clean my old laptop’s glossy screen and it’s fine. Not damaged in the least and I’ve had that laptop for 2 years.

@Fred931

But since you have a MacBook Pro, as do I, a microfiber cloth really is the best option. The liquid that comes with my Monster cloth is just distilled water and polymers. And I don’t even need the liquid. The microfiber cloth is fine on its own.

That works fine for fingerprints and dust, but what about those little bits that just won’t come off?

Water’s probably fine. Like I said, the liquid I have is mostly just distilled water.

That works well, but after using the microfiber with water, the water kinda stays there, so i mopped it up with a terry cloth, then used the now-drier microfiber again. It looks a lot better! I still can’t believe that I’m already having to deal with this 2 DAYS after I got the blasted computer.

I get so irritated when people touch my screen.. they have no idea how difficult it is to get their fingerprints off…

Actually, depends on your patience. If you get some tape (not plumbers tape!!), you can clean off any screen. Try to find some wide scotch tape and just put it on and peel it off across your screen. You’ll see that it is far better than any duster.

In short your answer is: TAPE

An investment in the Monster product will be small because one bottle will last YEARS. And it will even clean eyeglasses.

I second the Monster Screen/Clean. It comes in a spray bottle and I use it with a microfiber cloth…both purchased at Staples. Liquid is distilled water and proprietary polymers.

I cannot imagine putting scotch tape on this gorgeous screen (Mac) for cleaning purposes.

I would NEVER put the adhesives of tape on my screen, but I ALWAYS use tape to remove fibers or hairs from my keyboards.

I say use a camera lens cloth and put a little water on it and it works perfectly fine. No Monster clean needed.