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How to Clean Your Laptop
- KingMob 8y agoDon't do what I did and use a lysol wipe from the bottom of the jar. It had too much fluid, and damaged the keyboard. Modifier keys were frozen in "on" position, and I was unable to login. Now that laptop won't even boot.
- overcast 8y agoThat sounds like basic common sense. I'll also add don't use cleaning fluids on your monitor / screen. Microfiber and a light mist of water on the rag is more than sufficient.
- pc86 8y ago> That sounds like basic common sense. Agreed. Pushing a wet cloth against your keys is basically wringing it out right over the board.
- fhood 8y agoI used to use DI water back when I had access to it. Though, come to think of it, all the gunk probably re-ionized it.
- 52-6F-62 8y agoI use lens cleaner on occasion. If it's good enough for a telescope lens or my glasses, I'm confident in it working for my monitor. That and/or Kimwipes. Those things are magic. https://www.staples.com/kimwipes/directory_kimwipes https://www.staples.com/kimwipes/directory_kimwipes edit: Dammit. In Canada I can never find them not in bulk, though.
- pieter_mj 8y agoAlso clean your smartphone. It builds up more bacteria than a petri dish laborant could hope for.
- LeoPanthera 8y agoDo you have a citation for this? Because it surprises me. Most smartphones are hard, dry surfaces, which inhibits bacteria growth.
- sandworm101 8y agoYou hold it in your hand, pressed against your ear, while speaking into it with your mouth. It has bacteria on it. I wouldn't be too worried. Is isn't any dirtier than your hands or your ears already are, but I wouldn't be a good idea to share a phone with a flu sufferer.
- ohazi 8y agoPet peeve: people who actually touch their smartphone to their face when calling rather than just hovering near their ear. The layer of grease on the glass afterwords is absolutely disgusting, and on exactly the area that you touch with your fingers every two seconds. Why would anyone do this!?
- pizza 8y agoAre you asking why anyone would ever touch something to their face and fingers?
- ohazi 8y agoYes? I don't particularly enjoy the feeling of touch-screening through bacon grease, and am wondering why anyone would willingly subject themselves to this.
- krageon 8y agoI'm morbidly curious why there is bacon grease on your cheek/ear. Doesn't food go in your mouth? Don't you clean your face/hands after eating poorly (ie the food hasn't all gone in your mouth)?
- bhauer 8y agoI appreciate the article's message of simplicity. But still its recommendations go beyond what I find necessary. I just use a microfiber cloth with or without a tiny amount of water and my laptop (an original Surface Book) cleans up just fine. I suppose more would be necessary if I were to spill stuff on the laptop, but so far I've avoided that mishap.
- Suspect 8y agoDon't eat while using your laptop and you will keep it clean with a dust cloth and a mist of water. Eat while using your laptop and no vacuum in the world will be able to suck that disgusting filth from it.
- weiming 8y agoNothing like watching someone eat a juicy, savory burger and then wipe their hands on their pants and continue typing. Something I see way too often.
- rhacker 8y agoMy wife tries to do this. She's not allowed near my Old Macbook Pro (good keyboard one from 2014) after she eats. The PS4 and Roku controllers are totally gross, so I keep alcohol prep pads nearby for those (not on my laptop of course).
- mistersquid 8y agoI often eat while computing for work and personal reasons. Since eating while using a keyboard is a fact of how I live and work, I use a keyboard condom when eating or drinking beverages (especially coffee). Except for my smart phone, I don't really compute in the outdoors. My go-to provider for keyboard covers is http://kbcovers.com http://kbcovers.com (no relation except as a satisfied customer). As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
- kspy 8y agothis made me wonder if they did something like this for vim...which they do! https://www.editorskeys.com/products/vi-vim-keyboard-covers-for-macbook-imac https://www.editorskeys.com/products/vi-vim-keyboard-covers-...
- patorjk 8y agoKeeping your tools clean is good hygiene. Additionally, whenever I start working at a new place I always clean the keyboard. It's amazing how disgusting they can get. For old keyboards, if you pop off the keys, you'll find they're typically full of hair, food, and other random debris. People usually think I'm a weirdo when they see me doing it, but my boss at my previous project saw how gross my keyboard was when the keys were off, and went out and got me a new keyboard (in this case it was a desktop keyboard instead of a laptop).
- mehrdadn 8y agoWhat I wonder about is, if you're not getting sick from it (and the keyboard is working), then what is the goal of getting a new keyboard due to what's under the keys of the previous one? Just the unpleasantness of knowing what's there?
- filoleg 8y agoprobably the same logic as for cleaning out dirt from under a rug, even though you normally won't see it and it won't actively be making you sick.
- mehrdadn 8y agoHaha interesting, though in that case I'd worry about ants and such, whereas here I wouldn't, but but I guess maybe others might.
- mikec3010 8y agoEventually it could attract insects or mice. I remember coming into the office early, lights were off. I felt this very gentle hair on my left hand finger tips, moved my hand, saw nothing, went back to work. Happened again and I realized it was a decent sized cockroach! Went right back under the desk and I never caught it.
- mehrdadn 8y agoHaha wow, thanks... now I'm going to freak out every time I feel gentle hair on my body!! :-)
- elliottkember 8y agoIt wouldn't be Hacker News without a few people commenting "let all your stuff get filthy so your immune system stays on its toes".
- wang_li 8y agoNot that a dirty laptop applies, but it’s pretty well supported that a too clean environment is bad for the developing immune systems of children.
- elliottkember 8y agoSure. This article talks about “cleaning”, not “cleaning excessively”.
- imwally 8y agoMany moons ago Apple included a nice little microfiber cloth[1] with an embossed Apple logo on it. Ever since then I have taken extra care to clean my devices every so often with the same cloth. [1] https://nicolasbottari.com/uploads/_big/apple_cleaning_cloth.jpg https://nicolasbottari.com/uploads/_big/apple_cleaning_cloth...
- jason_slack 8y agoWow, I have a show box of these clothes! I just tossed them in when I was buying devices.
- krtkush 8y agoThey shipped these till 2015.
- gakos 8y agoUm... "nasty smells"? How big of a problem is that really? I'd have a hard time placing my laptop in a bag of kitty litter. Don't doubt that it works though.
- raithel 8y agoI used to work in a laptop repair place. I found that isopropyl rubbing alcohol can sometimes damage or wear some exterior rubbers or plastics on laptops.(works great on interior and metal though!) The best method I have found to clean exterior of a laptop is the following: - Turn off the computer. Standard: - Wipe down exterior, screen and keyboard area with Windex sprayed on a cloth or use Lysol wipes. If Heavily soiled: - Take a vacuum with small brush attachment and gently suck up stuff under and around keyboard, in vents and other nooks and crannies. - Then use canned air to blow out keyboard and other places. (If it's really bad, you may need to (if possible) remove the keyboard to really get everything.) - Repeat standard procedure until cloth or cleaning implement does not pick up any more dirt or grime. Finally, let the laptop sit for an adequate amount of time to dry off.
- bproven 8y ago> Wipe down exterior, screen and keyboard area with Windex sprayed on a cloth or use Lysol wipes. I'm pretty sure this is the worst thing you can do to a screen (use Windex/Lysol). Much too harsh. I believe the better option is using Isopropyl alcohol - see this (source Dell): https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln153766/how-to-clean-the-lcd-panel-on-your-dell-laptop-or-monitor?lang=en https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln153766/how-...
- gnicholas 8y agoHuh, the article specifically says not to use Windex. You've not found it to damage the screen?
- djrogers 8y agoGiven the huge variety of materials and construction for different types of screens, I don’t think any single answer here would be reliable.
- gnicholas 8y agoGood point. I was hoping to get answers from various folks. I'm on a relatively common MBP, and have only ever used water. That gets it mostly clean, but not all the way. The Apple Store folks always give it a good clean when I go in for my weekly (har har) keyboard cleaning, so I've never had to go past water myself.
- VirtualAirwaves 8y agoMany products marketed as "rubbing alcohol" contain additives like castor oil. Just get a bottle of "70 percent by volume of pure isopropyl alcohol" where the dilution is water (and the denaturing bitterants) and nothing else
- erikb 8y agoIf that level of description solves any of your problems you don't really have problems. It gets interesting when you need to take out keys to get the food out underneath, or when the air delivery is full of dust. I don't know, having a split in the screen or something might also yield interesting situations. But that you should airblow your keyboard before you wipe your screen... if you can't come up with that yourself you'll experience it once or twice, then you know.
- pasbesoin 8y agoI've had just a drop of water change the appearance of the anti-glare coating on my T430's matte 1500x900 screen. Once applied very gently with a soaked soft paper napkin, to remove a new speck on the go because it was irritating me and also before it dried and "set" on the screen. Once when a drop fell from my washed and rinsed hands, while reaching for a towel in cramped quarters on vacation, and rolled partway down the screen before I got to it. The marks don't show much while I'm using the machine and looking directly at the screen, unless something particular is displayed at those spots, although I can see them if I look for them. Quite evident when the screen is off, particularly if there is any reflectivity (hazy reflectivity, due to the matte screen). Because of this, I've become very hesitant to clean it. I'm pretty clean and careful, so otherwise the screen doesn't really need it. I very gently wipe away dust with a disposable "Swiffer" type cloth -- although I've started worrying about the long term effects of minor abrasiveness. Anyway, I would very much like to clean it and all the more so, my W520's very nice full HD screen. The latter got some spatter while I had an acute medical condition of some weeks. But, with simple water apparently altering the matte coating, I'm very hesitant. As for blowing compressed air in the vent holes. I would be worried about blowing dust and debris to a different location where it does more damage. And, with desktop machines, I remember the advice making sense to carefully freeze the motion of fans with a pencil or similar, to keep the compressed air from torquing or over-revving the fan and excessively stressing its bearings. I would assume that could apply to laptop fans, as well.
- sachinsmc 8y agoTomorrow for sure I'm gonna clean my MacBook Pro
- Pica_soO 8y agoI also found the little plastic raises at F and J to be not durable enough on laptop keyboards. I had some laptops where they would wear off and you had too look for the keys every time you started typing.
- RobertSmith 8y agoThe main problem is eating or drinking something when you work on the laptop. Avoiding this and cleaning the laptop with a soft cloth is enough