How to clean residue off lcd screen?
May 6, 2010 12:29 PM Subscribe
Somebody apparently tried to clean my laptop's screen with something inappropriate, and the result is something of a very thin, marbled film across the entire thing. How can I get this crap off my screen?
I've tried using my alcohol-free lcd screen wipes, but they didn't help. Getting the wipes damp with filtered water seemed to help, but only marginally.
I've tried using my alcohol-free lcd screen wipes, but they didn't help. Getting the wipes damp with filtered water seemed to help, but only marginally.
I clean my laptop screen by dampening a soft washcloth with rubbing alcohol and wiping in even rows. I know there are things that say don't put alcohol on the laptop screen because it'll remove the protective coating, but since the coating is already screwed up, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Rubbing alcohol on a cloth has worked great for me.
posted by phunniemee at 12:54 PM on May 6, 2010
posted by phunniemee at 12:54 PM on May 6, 2010
We've seen this at work a few times when people cleaned the screen with window cleaner containing ammonia. If that's what happened, the resulting marbled appearance isn't from something left behind that can be cleaned off. It's from the anti-reflection/anti-glare coating getting damaged by the ammonia, and screen replacement is the only fix.
posted by FishBike at 1:02 PM on May 6, 2010
posted by FishBike at 1:02 PM on May 6, 2010
Response by poster: But, FishBike, my initial cleaning attempts have altered the marbling.
posted by dvrcthewrld at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2010
posted by dvrcthewrld at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2010
Get the person who "cleaned" your screen to buy you a replacement. Sorry.
posted by vsync at 5:53 PM on May 6, 2010
posted by vsync at 5:53 PM on May 6, 2010
Response by poster: Is there an anti-glare coating on all screens? Mine is a Thinkpad.
posted by dvrcthewrld at 5:14 AM on May 7, 2010
posted by dvrcthewrld at 5:14 AM on May 7, 2010
Best answer: Is there an anti-glare coating on all screens? Mine is a Thinkpad.
I don't know if they all do, but most of ours are Thinkpads too, and that's where we've seen this happen. The key indicator is that marbled/mottled appearance that doesn't move around a whole lot when you try to clean it further.
If it was some sort of liquid residue, like something oily, it would move around as you try to remove it, and then it would just be a matter of finding something that can absorb it instead of just moving it around the screen. As others have mentioned, microfiber cloths are fantastic for that sort of thing.
Hopefully this will turn out to be just some sort of dried-out residue and you'll be able to remove it somehow. I'm just saying it sounds exactly like what we've seen in cases where we could confirm an ammonia-containing glass cleaner was used on the screen, and that we were never able to undo the damage in any of those cases.
We didn't try the suggestion of just removing the coating entirely. My gut feel is that would probably damage the plastic screen in the process and make things even worse, whereas this was something that could be done with a glass CRT screen if it had a damaged coating. But we've never tried that, so I couldn't say for sure.
posted by FishBike at 6:48 AM on May 7, 2010
I don't know if they all do, but most of ours are Thinkpads too, and that's where we've seen this happen. The key indicator is that marbled/mottled appearance that doesn't move around a whole lot when you try to clean it further.
If it was some sort of liquid residue, like something oily, it would move around as you try to remove it, and then it would just be a matter of finding something that can absorb it instead of just moving it around the screen. As others have mentioned, microfiber cloths are fantastic for that sort of thing.
Hopefully this will turn out to be just some sort of dried-out residue and you'll be able to remove it somehow. I'm just saying it sounds exactly like what we've seen in cases where we could confirm an ammonia-containing glass cleaner was used on the screen, and that we were never able to undo the damage in any of those cases.
We didn't try the suggestion of just removing the coating entirely. My gut feel is that would probably damage the plastic screen in the process and make things even worse, whereas this was something that could be done with a glass CRT screen if it had a damaged coating. But we've never tried that, so I couldn't say for sure.
posted by FishBike at 6:48 AM on May 7, 2010
Response by poster: Well, it was as you said: damaged. Fortunately, when I recently sent my Thinkpad in for repairs, a mother board issue, my screen was replaced as well. Thank you for identifying the problem. I'll be extra careful this time to let people know that I don't appreciate their initiative to clean my LCD.
posted by dvrcthewrld at 7:56 AM on October 5, 2010
posted by dvrcthewrld at 7:56 AM on October 5, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by slow graffiti at 12:32 PM on May 6, 2010 [2 favorites]