Don't you just love your MacBook? I know I do! Which is why I always like to keep it clean. Here's a guide on how to clean the MacBook Screen
All Apple products are extremely well designed in terms of styling and performance. Build materials are also of the best quality to maintain their position as premium lifestyle products.
If you are someone who does not just leave your MacBook at home all the time and if you carry it up and down to work everyday and everywhere else you go, then your MacBook is bound to pick up some dust, dirt and stains along the way.
To keep your precious MacBook always looking like new apart from wiping off the dust from it often you will also have to invest some of your time once in a while to give it a proper thorough cleaning.
To do this you will need some basic materials if you want to do a simple cleaning, although there are some products available that can help you clean deeper and better, all of which and more we will be discussing in this article.
How To Clean Your MacBook Screen
When you decide to spend so much money on buying a new MacBook, it is wise to spend a little while cleaning it from time to time, most particularly the screen as that tends to take on smudges and stains more easily.
The display panels that Apple uses are some of the best in terms of quality and deliver brilliant imagery always, to maintain this clear picture removing smudges from the screen is a must. So even if you do not clean the entire MacBook all the time, clean the screen regularly to maintain perfect viewing.
Even your MacBook keyboard will start to collect dirt over time. This can be dust from the outside environment as well as natural oils or perhaps food stains from your hands.
All of this dirt has to be cleaned out regularly, if you don't do this then you run the risk of allowing this dirt to get in between the keys and maybe further down towards the other key components and cause damage, which would require you to spend money on replacement parts to fix it.
In this article, we will discuss a few ways to give your MacBook screen a good cleaning, both basic and more expensive ways you can go about it, some laptop cleaning products that might interest you and also tell you some things you should avoid doing while cleaning to avoid any damage to the screen.
What Not To Do When Cleaning Your MacBook Screen
There are a few things to keep in mind before you can get started with cleaning your MacBook.
At all costs avoid using any material that is abrasive as it will cause scratches that will not be easily removable, this includes rough pieces of cloth and abrasion based cleaning liquids.
Even cloth or materials such as paper towels or tissue that will leave any fibre residue should also be avoided.
If you are going to be using a cleaning liquid be sure not to overdo it and drench any parts in it. Do not spray anything onto the screen straight from the bottle as well. Using excess liquid can cause it to flow into ports or so and damage parts
Apple also suggests that cleaning liquids that contain Acetone, Ammonia or Hydrogen peroxide should not be used. Other things such as aerosol sprays, solvents, window and household cleaners should also be avoided.
Do not make any of these mistakes and avoid damaging or scratching the screen of your MacBook permanently. So now that you know what not to do let us move on to how to clean your MacBook.
Methods To Clean Your MacBook
There are a couple of methods you can use to clean your MacBook. Some cost very little if not any money and can be done with things you should already have at home, others are more thorough and will require some specific items. Let us look at these methods now.
- Method 1
This technique is the most cost-effective one and is also the way most people do it at home since its the simplest.
First, power off the MacBook and disconnect any other peripherals like a mouse or pen drive from the computer.
Using a microfibre or non-residue cloth gently wipe off all visible dust on the screen, do this in a circular pattern and apply only a minimum amount of pressure to avoid scratching it with the dirt particles.
When you have removed all visible signs of dust and residue, take another piece of microfibre cloth and moisten it slightly with either deionized or distilled water. Do not over wet the cloth as water can drip into ports and other openings and cause severe damage.
With the damp cloth slowly wipe the tougher stains if any, use circular motions while doing this as well.
When you have whipped down the whole screen completely, using another cloth that is dry wipe the screen completely dry. Once dry your display should be a lot more clear.
- Method 2
To use this method, apart from needing a couple of microfibre cloths you will need to pick up a spray that is available exclusively for this purpose, buy one that you feel is of good quality and labelled for cleaning LCD and glass screens.
Lightly dust off any visible signs of dust on the screen before you begin to clean with the spray.
Now, just dampen the cloth slightly with the cleaning spray, one or two sprays should be more than enough. Do not spray the cleaner directly onto the screen, it can drip down into openings and damage the screen.
Wipe the display in a circular pattern slowly to remove all stains. If needed spray more cleaning liquid onto the cloth. Repeat this till all smudges and stains are gone. Most of these sprays are spirit-based so it will dry up on its own without streaking, no need to wipe it down with a dry cloth when you are done.
Now your MacBook screen should display crisp images again.
- Method 3
Compared to the above methods this one is the most expensive but the most official way to go about it. If you did not know Apple sells its own branded microfibre cloth they refer to as a polishing cloth and it comes with quite a big price tag, 20 USD. Despite its high cost many people actually go for it, some people especially Apple fans like everything Apple so why not the cloth too.
Using this cloth clean the screen in the same fashion, go in circular motions around the screen until all dirt is removed.
You can choose to use a screen cleaning liquid along with the cloth. There are also other products in the market you can buy and use like cleaning compounds and compressed air cans to blast the dust out of your keyboard. We will list some of these products in this article.
How To Clean Other Apple Screens
The cleaning procedure is not to different from how you would clean your MacBook, but when cleaning a screen like the iMac take extra care when doing so.
Whether you are cleaning the extra display you use with your iMac or the iMac screen itself,
first disconnect all power going to the monitor or the iMac. Remove all peripherals like pen drives from the computer too.
With the cleaning cloth you received with your iMac or any microfibre cloth, wipe off all visible dust on the screen.
For tougher stains you can slightly dampen the cloth with a 70 percent isopropyl alcohol solution.
Again, do not spray anything directly on the screen or over wet the cloth, if it drips or runs into openings, especially on the iMac it can damage other crucial components as everything is in one unit.
Cleaning and Protection Products Safe to Use on a MacBook
Here is a list of some products that may interest you when you are ready to give your MacBook its next cleaning.
Microfibre Cloth
When it comes to cleaning electronics, especially display screens, a microfibre cloth is a must-have. They do not leave any fibre residue when used on monitors or TVs. You can even wet this cloth slightly to wipe harder stains off your keyboard. They are good for around the house cleaning too.
Cleaners
This super effective cleaner spray will get your screen looking flawless again. This spray is completely non toxic and safe to use even around pets. It does not contain any alcohol, ammonia or phosphates which makes it safe for the environment too.
Flawless screen cleaner is cost-effective to use as well, one 16 Oz bottle will be good enough to clean your screen a thousand times so its good value for money. You will also receive a free microfibre cloth with every bottle to get that flawless look.
Compressed Air
If you have dirt under your keyboard that can also cause keys to become unresponsive and are finding it hard to remove, the best solution for this is to blast out the dirt with compressed air.
Compressed air cans are easily available on Amazon. To use this to clean your keyboard, hold your MacBook at an angle and begin spraying the air in a zig-zag pattern this will blow out most dirt from under the keyboard.
Do not hold the nozzle of the can too close to the keyboard when using.
Keyboard Guards
One of the best ways to keep dirt and debris from getting in and under your keyboard is to not let it get there in the first place. Silicone or Ghost covers are the best at this and the least intrusive way to do the job.
These covers are ultra-thin and fit over your keyboard like an invisible skin. They are see through and soft to the touch. It is also easy to place and remove. This will cover up the gaps between keys and stop any dust and dirt from getting under.
Conclusion
With the information given above we hope that you find the best method and products that suit you. Just follow the simple steps given above so you can always keep you Macbook screen free from dust and smudges and in top viewing condition always to get the most out of your MacBook display.
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