Travel Technology - How do you keep your laptop screen clean ??

Love my new laptop, but 3 days later the screen is full of lint / dust etc.

What sprays or cleaners do people use to try and reduce the "magnetic" draw of stuff to their screens?

I've used stuff like Endust for electronics before, it works alright. A lot of people say just a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water on a lint-free microfiber cloth works well.

I've also used this stuff: http://www.klearscreen.com/ and it's outstanding, but pricey.

I've used stuff like Endust for electronics before, it works alright. A lot of people say just a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water on a lint-free microfiber cloth works well.

I've also used this stuff: http://www.klearscreen.com/ and it's outstanding, but pricey.

I have used klear screen in the past and it leaves a film on the screen.

I use iKlear Apple Polish (http://www.klearscreen.com/) even though I don't own a Powerbook, iBook, or iPod. :)

I have used klear screen in the past and it leaves a film on the screen.


If you work quickly, it won't leave a film.

I have used different cleaning products, but nothing in the past has helped reduce the electro magnetic attraction of dirt to the screen.

Do any of the above products help in that respect?

KlearScreen and iKlear do leave a film behind, but I think that's how it reduces electrostatic attraction. The iKlear is more expensive, but isn't as obviously solvent laced as the normal (and cheaper) KlearScreen products.

Some times I'll just use a square of microfiber cloth in between cleanings. It works better than using canned air.

I have used different cleaning products, but nothing in the past has helped reduce the electro magnetic attraction of dirt to the screen.

Do any of the above products help in that respect?


Endust for electronics supposedly does this, but if you think about it, if screens are always passing electricity through them, how long could an anti-static spray possibly last? (Engineers please chime in)

Spray it with a hose when cleaning the car. Oh wait, this isnt omni?!

Endust for electronics supposedly does this, but if you think about it, if screens are always passing electricity through them, how long could an anti-static spray possibly last? (Engineers please chime in)

Well electricity and magnetism are essentially one and the same....hence electromagnetism. If you have a cell phone nearby a speaker and your phone rings, you'll hear a distortion coming out of the speaker. Why? The radio waves (which are "packets" of energy) disrupt the magnetic field that is producing the sound inside the speaker and thus the sound, by virtue of Ampere's Law

B = (mu*I)/(2*pi*r) for linear profiles

In the same sense, a laptop screen is filled with liquid crystals which are polarized (positive and negative) inbetween two thin, transparent plates. The pixels are then converted to a zero or 1 and then is distorted to create color. I won't get into much more detail since 16 million colors requires much more complex analysis.

For all that I've lost already, essentially it is nearly impossible to keep your screen lint- and dust-free because the inherent property that drives LCD screens is the same that creates attractive forces to particulates in the air.

Wow...I really am a nerd. Guess it paid off to study electromagnetism and quantum physics.

globetrekker84 - waaaaay to much information :p

Guess I will suffer knowing there is nothing I can do to deal with it.

Thanks

I use a little spit, my finger and a handkerchief.

I squint.

Best wishes,

Teacher49

Monster iClean with the included microfibre cloth. Works fantastic. Use it on my laptop's 17" and my standalone 20" and 24" LCDs.

Monster iClean with the included microfibre cloth. Works fantastic. Use it on my laptop's 17" and my standalone 20" and 24" LCDs.

I use a travel size Monster ScreenClean and love it!

Endust for electronics supposedly does this, but if you think about it, if screens are always passing electricity through them, how long could an anti-static spray possibly last? (Engineers please chime in)

I'm in school for engineering but I'm not convinced it's an engineering issue. If they could make it last a long time, people wouldn't have to buy the product as often. It may be more about business than technology.

But I must add...

MRI scanning machines typically have to be in a room that has copper behind all the walls (see this page (http://www.rfi-ind.com.au/mri/shielding.htm) for details) and you don't see them tearing down the walls every week to get to the copper plates.

I carry a swiffer in my case.... one quick swipe and the screen is dust free.....

I'm in school for engineering but I'm not convinced it's an engineering issue. If they could make it last a long time, people wouldn't have to buy the product as often. It may be more about business than technology.

But I must add...

MRI scanning machines typically have to be in a room that has copper behind all the walls (see this page (http://www.rfi-ind.com.au/mri/shielding.htm) for details) and you don't see them tearing down the walls every week to get to the copper plates.

I think that site is a little misleading. Yes if the MRI machine is constantly on, then the copper/steel plates would be partially charged, but if they turn them on and off, then any of the particulates that were stuck to the plates would then just settle to the ground (though I doubt that there would be a lot of contaminants in the walls to begin with). The whole point of the plates is to create a Faraday Cage, so that any electromagnetic energy doesn't go shooting off everywhere and mess up any nearby equipment. It wouldn't be good if the MRI sends all the equipments in the ICU into haywire. That's the whole reason why you're not supposed to use a cell phone in hospitals. The radio waves screw with the sensitive instruments in there.

The "Drugstore on the wall" boxes all around my site have all kinds of goodies...Tylenol, Motrin, antacids, Imodium, band aids, smelling salts, iodine capsules etc. If you can't find it in there, you probably need an ambulance. They also stock travel sized packets of "glass" cleaning wipes (similar to the Monster cleaner) which work great on eyeglasses, monitors etc.

The other, more important, item we use to keep laptop screens clean is a 3M privacy filter http://cms.3m.com/cms/US/en/2-22/FiiulFT/view.jhtml This handy item serves double duty, keeps the screen itself clean and scratch-free and also keeps my security people happy wrt limiting exposure of sensitive information.

I use Windex Wipes. They come in a package of 25 pre-moistened wipes, each 7 x 10 inches.

You mean you can clean the screen? :eek:

I always thought the screens just got dimmer as time went by, and when it gets too dark to use I just buy a new laptop...

You mean you can clean the screen? :eek:

I always thought the screens just got dimmer as time went by, and when it gets too dark to use I just buy a new laptop...

Sounds like a good reason to me!

Anyhow, since others have mentioned klearscreen products, they also have micro-fiber cloths and other wipes (both wet and dry) that might be interesting.
http://www.klearscreen.com/products.html#Anchor

globetrekker84 - waaaaay to much information :p



Not for me :D. Thanks.

I'm out of my league here, but I'd guess the antistatic wipes work in one or both of the following ways...

Could the juice on the wipes contain ions that help to cancel out the field (for a while anyway) and reduce the static? I didn't really dig chemistry that much, so I have no idea of this makes any sense at all.

However, if that made no sense at all as a possibility, I'm sure it would be quite possible for the juice in the wipes to contain something that when applied to the screen helps the dust not to stick to it so easily.

That's a good question swise. I was thinking about it, but I don't think it works like that, since ions follow an exponential decay (for stable and unstable ones). Everything that exists has some form of polarity, even noble gases (think van der Waals). Even if you did use all those cloths, the magnetic field exists beyond the screen and it's still going to attract the dust. Basically you're fighting a losing battle unless you live in a clean room.

REALLY bad idea. Windex has ammonia in it. Attacks the plastic cover over the sceen.


I use Windex Wipes. They come in a package of 25 pre-moistened wipes, each 7 x 10 inches.

Unless you get gum on your screen a clean, lint-free cloth should work. When I had a Dell 700m (which attracted all the dust within 5 ft) I carried around a cloth for cleaning glasses, which worked wonders.

I recently started using a screen cleaning kit from 3M that I have been pleased with:

http://www.3m.com/ergonomics/mon_cleaning.html

I use the CL680. It's small enough to travel with but between the liquid it uses and the fact that I don't feel the need to clean my screen all the time I keep it at home.

As for using a lint free cloth, I find that it helps but I do get enough crap on my laptop screen that every now and then it needs more than a dusting.

KlearScreen and iKlear do leave a film behind, but I think that's how it reduces electrostatic attraction. The iKlear is more expensive, but isn't as obviously solvent laced as the normal (and cheaper) KlearScreen products.

Some times I'll just use a square of microfiber cloth in between cleanings. It works better than using canned air.

Also if you experience streaking after using the KlearScreen/iKlear products, just use a slightly damp cloth then dry and repolish with the microfiber cloth. It works great and I find myself only cleaning about every 2 weeks. (I have the brightview high gloss screen).