So you need to clean your TV like everything else in your house, but… if you do it wrong, you risk making the situation worse or even permanently damaging it. So let’s get the basics right and make that image perfect again, without doing anything regrettable.
The cleaning instructions specified by the manufacturer of your TV always have priority. If any advice you read below conflicts with what your manufacturer recommends, follow what your manufacturer says.
The first thing we need when cleaning a TV (or monitor) is tools. You’ll need a soft duster that won’t scratch your screen, or a dust cloth. You will also need about three high-quality microfiber cloths. If you wouldn’t clean your glasses or expensive sunglasses with that cloth, it has nothing to do with your TV screen. If you need to use a liquid to clean your screen, then you should use it distilled water.
Do not use tap water or drinking water. Although the minerals in drinking water are good for you, if you wipe the screen with tap water as it evaporates, the screen will leave behind mineral residue, which will show up as horrible streaks. I’ve made this mistake exactly once in my life with an LCD computer monitor, and I’ve never been able to properly remove the mineral stains on it.
Do not use alcohol, ammonia, household glass cleaners or rough paper towels on the screen surface. I like to use a specially made cleaning solution for the LCD screen, which comes with a microfiber cloth.
A cleaner once sprayed furniture polish directly onto the screen of one of my old LCD TVs, and it wasn’t pretty. We were able to improve it by wiping it with LCD cleaning fluid, but it never looked good again.
If you do opt for a specialized LCD cleaning fluid, carefully read the reviews from people who have used it. Like any product, they are not all created equal.
Preparation: switch off, unplug and position
Once you have all the items you need to clean your TV, turn it off and unplug it. Examine the dark screen for spots or residue that may need special attention. I use my smartphone’s off-axis flashlight to reveal fingerprints and smudges on my TVs.
Depending on how your setup is set up, You may want to place the TV somewhere where you can clean it more easily or see what’s on the screen surface. For my wall mounted TVs I just clean them in place.
Step-by-step cleaning technique
Use a dry microfiber cloth or soft duster and first remove dust from the screen surface. Don’t press hard on the screen for several reasons, but partly because you don’t want to scratch it with dust particles or anything hard that might stick to the screen’s surface. Gently wipe the dust from the top of the screen to the bottom.
Never make circular movements on the screen, no matter what type of cleaning you are doing. Excess dust should accumulate at the bottom, where I usually gently wipe it away in a single horizontal motion.
If, after the dust has been removed, you see smudges, greasy fingerprints or the like, you can proceed with wet cleaning of the screen. If you don’t see that, just stop at this point.
Dampen a clean microfiber cloth with distilled water or your LCD screen cleaning fluid and then wipe the screen carefully in wide vertical lines from top to bottom. Once you’re done, you may want to take a dry, clean microfiber cloth to repeat the same process but dry off the excess liquid. Never spray water or other liquid directly onto the TV.
Now you can turn your TV back on after placing it in its normal position.
Maintenance schedule and quick fixes
If your TV is nice and clean and you make a point of never touching it directly to the screen with your fingers, then all it needs is a light dusting with a clean microfiber cloth every week.
If you see spots on the TV that do not disappear after wiping it with distilled water or LCD cleaning fluid, the surface layer may be damaged or there may be some other problem that cleaning cannot solve. This is a good time to contact customer support for advice, but in practice it is best to live with it.
#Dont #ruin #clean #screen