Irrespective of whether you own an HP laptop, a Dell laptop or a Lenovo laptop, your system is not immune to dirt, and cleaning its screen and keyboard is vital to both its longevity and usability. A grimy laptop screen causes image noise, hampering visibility and your overall experience as well.
Similarly, a dirty keyboard may be sticky, aesthetically displeasing and can hinder typing too. Thankfully, you can clean both the screen and keyboard of your laptop without much hassle by using readily available items, without having to spend on expensive cleaners, and without any risk of breakage.
Here’s what you should do to clean your laptop screen and keyboard safely.
How to clean your laptop screen
Most modern-day laptop screens are sturdier than older ones. Nevertheless, exercise caution when cleaning to keep potential damage that can cost you dearly at bay.
Here is the list of items you will need when cleaning your laptop screen:
- A few bowls of plain or distilled water
- Few drops of mild dishwashing liquid detergent or white vinegar
- A microfiber cloth or any other fabric that is lint-free
- A compressed air can
- Isopropyl rubbing alcohol
Once you gather the above items, follow these steps to clean your screen.
Step 1: Mix a few drops of mild detergent liquid or white vinegar in a bowl of warm water. Along with this, set aside a bowl of clean warm water.
Step 2: Turn off your laptop and unplug it from the switch. Remove the laptop battery if your model allows you to do so.
Step 3: Dip the microfiber in the ready liquid mixture and wring it out to remove excess water.
Step 4: Wipe your laptop screen with the cloth carefully. Avoid pressing the screen too hard or scrubbing it as this can cause pixel burnout. Instead, wipe your screen gently in a circular motion.
Step 5: Rinse the cloth with clean water and repeat steps 3 and 4 one or two more times.
Step 6: Use a dry, soft cloth to wipe water marks off the screen.
How to clean your laptop keyboard
If you use your laptop keyboard on a regular basis, there are high chances that it holds more than just a speck of dust or two. It may house food particles, besmeared with oil from your fingers, be jammed with debris or even be coated with a beverage that was split on or near it sometime in the past. Irrespective of the cause, you can clean your laptop keyboard by following these steps.
Step 1: Turn off your laptop and disconnect the power chord. Unplug it from the switch and remove the laptop battery if you can.
Step 2: Tilt the laptop upside down and gently tap it so that dust or debris falls off your keyboard
Step 3: Tilt back the keyboard and use the compressed air can to spray between the keys. You can also tilt your laptop to different sides to ensure all-round cleaning. This will dislodge the dust particles and debris stuck in between the keys and beneath the board.
Step 4: Soak a microfiber cloth in clean water and wring it out to remove excess liquid. Use this moist cloth to wipe your keyboard. To remove stubborn dirt, wipe the keyboard with a cotton ball dipped in isopropyl alcohol. Similarly, if you want to kill germs, you can use disinfectant instead.
Stop here if you are satisfied with surface-level cleansing. However, if you want to clean dirt stuck beneath your keyboard, continue by following these steps.
Step 5: Search online or in manuals and verify that you can remove the keys from your keyboard. If you can, take a photograph of the keyboard layout before dislodging the keys. This will help you put back the keys in the right places after cleaning the surface below.
Step 6: Remove keys and carefully wipe sticky spots with a cotton swab dipped in isopropyl alcohol.
Step 7: Replace the keycaps onto the board in their correct positions. Then, put the battery back into its slot. Your laptop is now ready to use!
In addition to knowing what to do when cleaning your laptop, being aware of what to avoid is also essential. Here’s what you should not do when cleaning your laptop screen and keyboard.
What to avoid when cleaning your laptop screen and keyboard
- Avoid using a paper towel or facial tissues to clean your screen as these are harsh and may cause damage.
- Avoid using alcohol or ammonia for LCD screens as these can harm the display.
Finally, make it a practice to place a thin microfiber cloth on the keyboard. This will prevent the transfer of dust particles from the keyboard onto the screen.
When you find that cleaning the screen and keyboard isn’t enough to give you picture-perfect display and user-friendly handling, it’s time to upgrade to a new laptop. Choose one that has a reliable build and use the steps given above to clean your laptop when it gets dirty. To buy a laptop without overshooting your budget, purchase it from the Bajaj Finserv EMI Network.
Here, you get HP laptops, Dell laptops, Lenovo laptops and systems by other well-known brands on No Cost EMI, a plan that ensures that you don’t have to pay anything beyond the item’s purchase price.
What’s more, you get access to EMI financing up to Rs.4 lakh and can repay the cost via easy-to-manage EMIs spanning over a 3- to 24-month tenor. To shop, simply use the EMI Network Card or avail in-store financing at a partner store!
Image credit: Clean your Laptop via Zacharie Studio/Shutterstock