Today’s flat screen televisions and monitors are notorious for collecting dust and fingerprints. Sure these glossy displays look sleek and pristine when you first take them home, but after a few weeks of use they will leave you wondering how to return them to their showroom shine. With this article we will tell you just what to use to polish and clean your plasma TV screen without harming your new entertainment investment.
You may find yourself turning to a window cleaner like Windex, after all LCD and plasma TV screens look like they are made of glass. However, this is a very common misconception. You should not use window cleaners on such displays. Let me repeat that, do not use window cleaners! Commercial cleaners such as Windex will at best leave streaks on your screen, and at worse they could possibly damage it. You see, such cleaners typically contain ammonia to help cut through the bugs and grime that an exterior window encounters.
It is what makes them so effective. Television screens and computer monitors are frequently made of plastic and not glass, however. The highly basic properties that make ammonia such an effective cleaning agent on glass make it dangerous and potentially reactive on plastics. Like I said, in most cases window cleaner would be fine and cause no permanent damage — just a few streaks. However, do you really want to take the risk with your expensive new TV?
Don’t fret, there you still have some cleaning options which are superior to Windex as well as safe! First, you could always buy some specialized cleaning solution from almost any store that sells electronics. Such products claim to be anti-static, which means they will help prevent so much dust from clinging to your display. They are also alcohol-free and opt to use a mild soap instead to ensure the protection of your display. Such products are usually fairly inexpensive and sometimes even come with their own microfiber cloths, which are really handy.
A microfiber cloth is soft enough to protect your screen, while sturdy enough to not shed lint and fibers all across your newly cleaned display. If you ever find yourself out of microfiber cloths, don’t worry. They can be purchased in bulk in the automotive sections of most retailers, such as WalMart.
If buying a cleaning solution seems to expensive and going to the store seems like a hassle, you could also even make your own. The absolute safest route would be to mix a drop of dish soap with water. Just ensure that you only use a droplet, so that you don’t leave any soapy residue. Another alternative is to mix isopropyl rubbing alcohol with water (about 50% alcohol and 50% water is good). It is streak-less and leaves no residue whatsoever. Alcohol is less harsh than ammonia, but it some sources claim it could still damage your screen overtime. However, I have been using an alcohol-water solution for years on my displays and plasma TV without any ill effects. If you are worried though, go with a commercial TV cleaner for maximum assurance.
Now that you have a good cleaning solution and some microfiber cloths, cleaning the plasma TV screen is very simple. Turn off the TV and wait for the screen to cool, then either spray or wipe on a small amount of cleaner and use circular motions towards the edges to help prevent streaks. Be careful to not apply too much pressure, just enough to remove the dust and grime. Voilá, your plasma display should now look just as good as it did in the store once more!
