Mac is dirty or MacBook Screen? You’re not the only one. Those who like to sip soup in front of a screen may have a problem with wayward soup staining their precious screen. Never fear; we’ve got the (fairly obvious) best practices for keeping your screen as shiny and chrome-plated as the day you bought it.
First, turn off your MacBook or Mac and make sure it’s unplugged. Next, get yourself a cloth. Preferably the microfiber variety. These cloths are positively charged and dust is negatively charged, making them ideal for removing dust from other parts of your computer and removing dust from your screen without any water or solution. Many modern electronics come with small microfiber cloths, so check your junk drawer to make sure you don’t have some lying around.
So, once all the dust is removed, you can actually set it up to clean the screen. To do this, you can moisten the cloth with water. Don’t worry; if you don’t spray water everywhere around your computer, you won’t damage anything. You don’t want to use any window cleaning products or any other type of abrasive solution. Windex and other window cleaning solutions contain ammonia, which can damage your screen. You also don’t want to use any product with acetone or any other solvent.
You can also use special screen cleaning solutions designed specifically for your TV or computer screen, but frankly, they’re largely rip-offs. These solutions, which promise “streak-free formulas,” usually consist of isopropyl alcohol and water. You can easily make your own using one part 70% isopropyl alcohol and one part distilled water. If you want to be prettier, you can put it in a mister bottle, but either way, you’re applying it to a microfiber towel, not the screen.
Again, you need to moisten the microfiber towel and don’t apply any liquid directly to the screen to prevent accidental drips. After that, wipe it clean until it no longer has any streaks or stains when exposed to light. The isopropyl-based solution dries faster than water, but wait for it to dry completely before turning your computer back on.
Some displays, like the Apple Studio Display, are mini LED screens and they’re supposed to have their own “polishing cloth” inside, but these are just microfiber towels. Apple claims they have a nano-textured screen, but the same process works on regular MacBook screens. Dampen a cloth with a mixture of water and 70% isopropyl alcohol and wipe.