Cleaning LCD Screens

At work, just as at home, I have a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor for my computer. Our Human Resources Director often doles out projects to me, involving Excel and Word documents, which she emails to me, and then rushes to my work space to go over them using my monitor. Invariably, she will point to various features of the document, pressing very hard as she dictates instructions, to the point that she could very well damage the crystals beneath the surface.

The act of her touching the LCD makes me wince and I wish that I could state emphatically, "Hey! It's not glass! It's a LCD, so keep your fingers off!"

Since I have yet to find a tactful way to dissuade her from pushing on the surface of my LCD, I simply clean the screen of her fingerprints the moment she leaves my work space. Cleaning a LCD screen is easy to do, but one must remember that the surface is definitely not glass, and you cannot use the same Windex-and-paper towel method once reserved for use on glass-screened monitors. Unlike glass, the surface of a LCD is a soft film prone to scratches, etching, smudging, and cloudiness caused by using improper cleaners and harsh cloths. Paper towels are considered harsh cloths when used on LCDs.

Also unlike glass, LCDs are magnets for dust and lint particles, as well as fingerprint smudges. Whether you have LCD computer monitors, or LCD television screens, follow these steps for cleaning your LCD screens:

1. Turn off your screen, and unplug it from the power source.
2. Examine your screen and note the location of smudges, dirt, dust, and lint.
3. Use a microfiber cloth to remove dust.
4. To clean your LCD screens, buy a cleaner specifically formulated to clean LCD screens, such as iKlear or Klear. If you cannot find a LCD cleaner, mix equal parts of distilled water and rubbing alcohol into a clean spray bottle and use that solution.
5. Never spray directly onto a LCD screen. Instead, spray the cleaning solution onto a clean, lint-free cotton or microfiber cloth, and then very gently wipe the screen using circular motions.

Never press hard on the surface of the LCD while cleaning it. In fact, never touch the screen with your fingertips as oily prints will be left behind, making cleaning the screen that much harder. When you have finished cleaning the screen, remove all excess liquid as leaving it on the screen could damage the surface. Once the screen is completely dry, you may reconnect it to the power source power it back up.