Is your TV screen dusty? Does it contain fingerprints or other stains?
Here is what you can do to safety clean it.
Before touching your TV
First of all you need to:
- Power off your TV.
- Unplug it from the electricity grid.
- Let it cool down.
And by any means, please:
- Avoid touching the TV screen with your hands and fingers.
- Don't spray anything directly onto the TV screen. And that includes water.
Before we proceed, I'd like to point out that the following tips and tricks are applicable to several TV types: LCD, LED, QLED, OLED and even Plasma.
I also read the recommendations of several manufacturers (LG, Samsung, Sony, Vizio, TCL, Panasonic) to compile the following techniques. I left the references in the links below.
Dust: Using a dry, microfiber cloth
This is recommended to remove dust from the TV screen and power cables (Moisture can lead to electrical shock and maybe start a fire).
Just grab a dry, soft piece of cloth such as an eyeglass cleaner. Ideally it has 100% cotton.
Gently wipe your TV screen to remove the dust.
I don't recommend paper towels or other wood based products. It may produce micro scratches that are not initially visible.
Fingerprints and stubborn spots: Water
Sometimes the dry piece of cloth is not enough to clean the TV screen from greasy stuff.
In that case, you need to soak your piece of cloth in a solution. You should ideally start with distilled water.
But wait a minute, can we clean the TV screen water? Didn't you just say we could not spray liquids in the TV?
Yes, you cannot spray water or other liquids.
However, the TV has a protection glass, which should be enough for a small quantity of liquid contained in piece of cloth. But you can not spray your TV the same way you spray your plants.
Cleaning procedure
Squeeze your cloth tightly to eliminate excess water, then gently rub your screen with it to clean.
Circular motion will usually clean it faster.
If that is not enough you can make a solution 1 to 100 (1%) with a few options, including a simple detergent (Dish soap).
It should be diluted 1 part of the product to 100 parts of water.
In any case you should never apply too much force in your TV screen.
After soaking the cloth in it you have to squeeze it to remove the excess liquid. Then use a soft, dry cloth to remove whatever liquid was left on the screen.
If you want a visual guide on this procedure, watch the video below.
Other parts of the TV
Other parts of the TV, such as the remote control, tend to be more dirty, so you can use a balanced proportional solution, such as 50% water and 50% soap.
Dust accumulate near the ventilation areas on the back of the TV. You can clean it with a vacuum cleaner.
https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00167099
Crayon: Alcohol
Can we use alcohol to clean our TV screen? Well, yes we can... But there is a catch.
When using an alcohol solution please pay attention to the level of alcohol in the solution.
Do NOT use anything that has more than 50% alcohol.
In this lens cleaner example below you can see that the alcohol concentration is only 17%. Also don't clean the speakers with alcohol. Be careful.
The procedure is similar to the above.
- Soak the cloth.
- Eliminate the excess alcohol solution.
- Rub the TV screen.
- Rub the TV screen with a dry, soft piece of cloth (Until the surface is dry).
Alternative: Vinegar
Vinegar is also a powerful and stable chemical, that is widely used in cleaning.
It is not my favorite as I always solve the stains with water, dish soap or alcohol. So I don't actually recommend it.
But if the previous solutions failed to clean your TV, you should make a solution with 50% water and 50% white vinegar.
The produce is similar to what i wrote above.
- Soak the cloth.
- Eliminate the excess vinegar solution.
- Rub the TV screen.
- Rub the TV screen with a dry, soft piece of cloth (Until the surface is dry).
Video: How to clean a TV screen the right way...
Tip: Turn on the caption button if you need it. Choose “automatic translation” in the settings button, if you are not familiar to the english language.
