Tips to Clean your Laptop Screen and Keyboard Safely

If you are sitting in front of your smudgy laptop screen with your hands on a dusty keyboard as you read this blog, it’s probably time for a cleanup. If fortunately, you have a leased laptop the simple thing to do is call GEEX and we’ll arrange a service for you.

If not, you can quickly assemble a cleaning kit using products available at home, or you can purchase a laptop cleaning kit or laptop cleansing products.

Before you Begin

One important thing to note is, you should never clean your laptop while you are using it. 

Always save your work, back up data, power down your laptop, and unplug the wall socket before cleaning your laptop.

Remember that your laptop is a powerhouse comprising delicate internal parts that must be handled with care. The area directly below the keyboard on your laptop, for instance, contains the contact layers that make your keypad and touchpad work. These are usually made of thin transparent plastic and may be damaged by hot air, or pressure.

Depending upon whether your Macbook or Windows Laptop uses an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or LED (Light Emitting Diode) screen, the panel behind your laptop screen will contain fluorescent backlight or tiny semiconductors that light up the screen. These too are delicate parts, apart from the screen itself, that are likely to get scratched if you use coarse material like paper napkins or washcloths for cleaning.

With this in mind, here are a few tips to clean your laptop screen and keyboard safely

With these thoughts in mind, here’s how to clean your laptop screen and keyboard.

Cleaning Surface Dirt from your Laptop Keyboard

This is easily done by turning your laptop upside down and shaking it gently. You can even tap gently on the chassis of your laptop to dislodge the stuck pieces. If you habitually clean your laptop keyboard, this alone should suffice to clean the keyboard and touchpad on your laptop.

You can follow it up by wiping the keyboard with a soft lint-free fabric. If you must use moisture, wrap the fabric around your index finger and then dip the finger into distilled water or a mild solution. 

Wipe the keyboard with left-right or top-down swipes making sure to clean between the keys.

Cleaning Between the Keys

Some pieces may not let go of the board easily or they may be stuck in the tiny gap between the keys and the board. You can use a brush or a low-power handheld vacuum cleaner to dislodge these pieces. A stronger vacuum may suck the keys right off your laptop! You can also try a gentle blower which will blow out the stuck pieces. Again, use a low-pressure one.

If you want to avoid the risk of damage, use cleaning slime. Just squeeze the gel or slime between the keys of your laptop keyboard and give it a minute to settle. Then use a soft lint-free fabric to wipe off the cleaning slime. The stubborn particles will stick to the slime and come off your keyboard.

Removing Stains from your Laptop Keyboard

Cleaning slime should remove most of the stains along with any stubborn grit. If you still see some stains though, as mentioned earlier, use a soft lint-free cloth dipped in distilled water or a mild detergent solution. White vinegar works too, but make the solution super mild else the letters on your keys might get wiped out along with the stains!

That’s about it. By following the above tips on how to clean your laptop keyboard, you should now have a sparkling clean keyboard!

How to Clean the Screen of your Laptop

As we already said, before you begin the cleaning process, save your work, power down the laptop, and unplug the cord. Again, the process of how to clean your laptop screen has three parts as described above.

The screen is perhaps the most delicate part of your laptop and hence easily damaged. Unfortunately, it’s just as easily smudged – especially if you are using a touch-screen laptop.

What you Need to Clean your Laptop Screen

Soft, lint-free cloth

Get a soft piece of cloth or rag that is lint-free. You might be tempted to use a washcloth or an old tee but that’s likely to deposit lint on the screen and make it filthier than it was. Also, the fabric may scratch the delicate surface of the screen. The same goes for paper napkins, toilet paper, and other similar materials. Microfiber fabric works best.

You could save the cloth that came with your eyeglasses for cleaning your laptop screen.

Cleaning Liquid

Unlike laptop keyboards screens are likely to contain smudges, stains, and finger marks that need to be washed off. Ideally, use a commercial product that is made for the purpose, but you can also use a very mild detergent, white vinegar, or rubbing alcohol. Just remember not to use anything too strong to avoid damage to the diodes, screen surface, and other parts of the screen.

Removing the Dirt

Swipe the screen gently with the fabric to remove the surface dust. Do not rub or apply pressure as it may damage the screen.

Psst… These tips will work for mobile and tablet screens as well as desktop monitors.

In the first swipe, use a unidirectional left-right or top-down swipe. This will dislodge any loose dirt and particles. To get rid of any spots, use a gentle circular motion. Again, do not apply too much pressure.

If there are still some smudges or marks remaining, wrap the cloth around your index finger and dip it into the solution. Then use a circular motion to rub the spots and smudges on the screen of your laptop. Wipe dry immediately to avoid leaving marks. If you are using vinegar, use white vinegar and not apple cider or other stronger varieties. 

Most laptop manufacturers like Apple, Microsoft, and Dell advise against using alcohol.

You can use the same solution to clean the frame around the screen as well.

If you’re still unsure of how to clean your laptop keyboard and laptop screen, perhaps it’s time to call a professional. A professional can pop the keys off your laptop keyboard and deep clean it for you. Similarly, they may detach the screen temporarily to give it a thorough cleaning.

GEEX is a family-run business that offers, MacBooks, storage, software, and laptops on lease or rental. Visit our website to explore products or reach out to us at 0121 285 0098, or info@mygeex.co.uk for more information.