I miss monitors with glass screens. Those were easy to clean.

I like WWII combat flight simulators, and when I see a spot on the screen I always reach out and scratch the monitor to check if it's dirt or an enemy plane. (I guess actual pilots from the era had the same problem with dirty windows.)

Cover your mouth when you sneeze and your screen won't get gross spots on it.

The really old LCD screens could maybe be damaged by stuff like Windex but I kinda doubt it.

I've been using Windex and paper towels for the past 10+ years to clean LCDs and have never had a problem.

People kept saying it was bad so I went looking for proof. Only account I could come be was somebody that sprayed way too much on the screen and didn't have anything to wipe it off with them. They went to get something and by the time they got back the cleaner had run down into the bezel and i guess shorted something out.

Moral of the story is don't be stupid and let cleaner get on the electronics... Same as with any piece of electronics.

Windex is fine to use. I regularly use it to clean laptop screens, desktop LCD screens and LCD TVs.

After doing thousands of cleanings and not once having a problem with it messing anything up it is safe to say that it is fine to do so.

If you are paranoid about it, the moisten a micro fiber cloth with windex and clean with that.

I have no idea how you have that dirty monitors, what are you doing to them? For the most part I just need to wipe off dust from them.

If I need to clean them, I use some dedicated LCD cleaning kit, sure there's more expensive options, but it's still only 20$ for something that should last you years, because there should rarely be a need to clean LCD screens.

Back in 2007, there was a similar discussion on the TechReport forum. Unfortunately, it was also the time when I was known as 'The Sick, Twisted Fuck', so here's what I posted.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman on TechReport discussion wrote:

I like to masturbate while watching porn with my laptop (portable masturbation), so cleaning up the LCD screen is something I do in routine basis. Damp cloth always does the job nicely, no matter how dried the semen has.

And no, the discussion didn't stop there (just scroll down). And yes, I knew TechReport was a family-friendly forum. 🤣

On more serious note, yes, I use damp cloth, but the cloth is microfiber, and the water is distilled.

Microfiber towel + streak free LCD cleaner. It's as simple as that..

Using paper towels and ammonia laced cleaners will make the surface finish (matte or glossy) turn hazy over time if you clean often with those two items. At work they clean our monitors weekly with paper towel and Windex, and it ruins the surface of the LCD screen after about 2 years.

I use the "ONN" screen cleaning kit with microfiber cloth ("Wally world/Wal-Mart" has it) and seems to work ok.

I think the key is never spray directly on the screen, spray the cloth/paper towel first then wipe.

buckeye wrote on 2020-02-21, 15:51:

I use the "ONN" screen cleaning kit with microfiber cloth ("Wally world/Wal-Mart" has it) and seems to work ok.

I think the key is never spray directly on the screen, spray the cloth/paper towel first then wipe.

I almost always spray Windex directly on the screen. Not a single issue to do it that way UNLESS you let it run down into the bezel.

Just have to have the cloth / paper towel ready to wipe the screen off right after you spray.

I don't have to clean my personal screens very often, but I am IT where I work and people eat at their computers, etc. When I work on a computer, if the screen is dirty I clean it.

A damp cloth is not going to get some stuff off of the screen. Sometimes I have to go over them multiple times to get them perfectly clean.

Honestly, I have also been hearing about the horrors of Windex, or even any alcohol that's not isopropanol (e.g., regular ethanol), and haven't really seen a single well-documented case of the coating being damaged by them.

I myself use the "special" cleaning spray that you buy in shops, mostly cause it's easy, cheap, comes with a cloth, cleans well, doesn't streak and lasts a long time. I think they are mostly based on distilled water and isopropanol. Some claim to contain anti-static and anti-septic agents.

I use baby wipes, that have been labeled the crap out of. Like those that are without perfume and other chemicals. They are good for smartphones and tablets as well.

I mean... If they are good enough for a baby's buttom, then they are good enough for a screen.