Keeping up with your gaming set-up cleaning routine is important. We’re here with another handy guide, this time: How to clean a gaming laptop screen.
Much like with your gaming monitor, it’s imperative to keep your gaming laptop screen clean. No one wants to be peering through dust and grime during those pivotal cut scenes. But it’s not just a case of scrubbing your screen with a sponge and soapy water. As such, we’ve put together this handy step-by-step guide to help you keep your gaming laptop display spick and span!
Why It’s Important To Clean Your Laptop Display
Keeping our gaming set-up clean is important, for more than just immersion reasons. We spend a lot of time at our battle-stations, so it is best to keep on top of all the grime, dust, and crumbs. Any build up of muck can work its way into the open ports or bezel seams and cause potential issues or damage hardware. Nobody wants that. So, it’s good practise to regularly clean and sanitise all your gaming hardware, laptop displays included.
How to Clean a Laptop Screen
We’ve got a breakdown of how to clean your laptop display with a step-by-step guide.
To start with, however, you’re going to need two soft microfibre cloths, distilled water (external WikiHow link on how to make that!), and a natural cleaning agent like white vinegar. It’s important to use distilled, or even filtered, water because the minerals in our tap water can cause damage to your laptop screen. Even more so, do not use cleaning agents like bleach or rubbing alcohol, as these can actively damage your screen by stripping away any protective coatings. Simply use white vinegar diluted in the distilled water in a 1:1 ratio, or even just the distilled water on its own. Alternatively, you can get dedicated monitor cleaning solutions, which we will link below.
Step-by-Step Guide
Here’s what you need to do once you’ve sourced all the bits and pieces you need.
- Shut down your laptop and disconnect the power cable.
- Use one of the soft microfibre cloths to dust the screen, wiping gently as you go.
- Carefully wipe down where the screen meets the bezel, to remove any build up there.
- Potentially, you could be done here if you are regularly cleaning your monitor. For a deeper clean, continue on with step five. Otherwise, skip to step nine.
- Take your second cloth and moisten it with the distilled water and vinegar solution. You do not need to completely soak the cloth because we want to avoid any excess moisture dripping onto your laptop. Hold it up – away from your laptop – and check for drips. Wring the cloth as needed.
- Repeat steps two and three with the damp cloth to remove any stubborn grime, remembering to wipe gently.
- Should there be any particularly tough stains, you can rinse the cloth, thoroughly wring, and re-apply the cleaning solution and then wipe again.
- Once you’re satisfied the screen is clean, set the wet cloth aside and re-use the first dry cloth to wipe away any excess moisture left on the screen or around the edges. If there is still dirt on your cloth or screen, repeat steps six through eight as needed.
- Put away the cleaning implements.
- Reconnect your laptop’s power cable and boot it up as normal.
- Game on!
Useful Products
It’s likely that you’ll have microfibre cloths and white vinegar around your home, but you can alternatively use screen-safe cleaning products. These have been specially formulated to expertly clean your laptop display without causing any damage. Plus, they’ll minimise prep time and can be stored in or near your gaming set-up for easy access. (A great cleaning habit to keep!)
IT Dusters Pixel Perfect 500ml Screen Cleaner
PER-ITD-01955
£10.99
(incl. VAT)
FREE SHIPPING
in stock
ADD TO BASKET
IT Dusters Pixel Perfect Screen Cleaner Wipes
PER-ITD-01956
£8.99
(incl. VAT)
FREE SHIPPING
in stock
ADD TO BASKET
A Few Top Tips for Cleaning
Here are a few things to remember when cleaning your gaming laptop screen:
- Do not use harsh chemicals, they will damage your screen
- Even with soft chemicals, do not directly spray the display – this will cause excess moisture to drip onto your laptop and potentially get to the inner hardware
- Use lint-free microfibre cloths rather than paper towels or anything with a scratchy material because – you guessed it – this will damage your screen
- Double-check the product guide included with your laptop to see if there are any specific cleaning instructions listed in there – follow these instead of the method listed above
- Wear gloves – the oils on our hands can leave behind marks on your freshly cleaned monitor!
More Cleaning Guides
Looking for cleaning guides to get your gaming set-up spick and span?
Got Any Good Hacks to Share?
If you have read any of our other cleaning guides, then you’ll know we’re always on the lookout for good cleaning hacks. Sitting on a good’un? Drop it in the comments below!
- 5 min read
Emily Haylock
Author
Emily is a board and cosy gamer, keyboard obsessive, and content copywriter for Overclockers UK. She has been with Overclockers UK since 2020, writing about everything from noblechairs to 8Pack PCs. She writes from within her desk nest with a foster pup at her feet. (What, a desk duvet is a totally normal thing!) In her downtime, she likes to play board games, farming sims, and old-school Final Fantasy. IX to be specific. It is the best, and that is a hill she will die on.
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