There's no two ways about it, my laptop is... kinda gross. Not really gross, but gross enough that I know I ought to keep it cleaner than it is. Most of the filth is on the screen, and though I use a light watery mist and a careful towelling technique to remove the grime, I never seem to be completely successful. Not even sure where to start with the keyboard. What cost-saving tips do you have for cleaning computers? Desktops or laptops, doesn't really matter, so long as it works. EDIT - In retrospect this should've gone over in Electronics and Computers. Would a kindly mod shunt it over? Thanks.
If it were a desktop keyboard, I would just toss it out and buy a new one. No sense in wasting a bunch of money on cleaning supplies to try and clean it when you can simply just buy a whole new keyboard. I've seen friends of mine waste all sorts of money on cans of compressed air, special wiping cloths, special cleaning sprays and such, and it was all just silly. Especially considering that the keys themselves will ultimately become worn out, and start to lose their letters. With a laptop that is obviously much trickier. But you do still have a few options. I generally take a cotton swab and dampen it with some window cleaner (squeezing out any excess so it doesn't drip down into the laptop and damage anything) and gently scrub between all the keys that are dirty. It is time consuming, but worth doing from time to time to keep everything clean. In some really bad situations, such as perhaps some ketchup or mustard dripped on to your keyboard while you were eating at your computer and got down in between the keys causing them to stick, you could (carefully!) detach the keys on most keyboards (desktop or laptop), and clean off everything, then snap them back on. But I have to stress carefully, because if you are too rough you will permanently break the plastic where the key attaches to the keyboard. On a side note, if you really want to be a jerk to someone, you could rearrange the keys on their keyboard by snapping them off and putting the letters in the wrong locations, lol. If the keyboard on your laptop is totally shot - as in missing or damaged keys, or some buttons are not working, then as a last resort, aside from trying to order a used replacement keyboard and replacing it yourself, you can simply just buy a standard desktop keyboard and use that with your laptop via it's USB port.
Although I think it probably goes without saying - the most cost effective computer cleaning tip - would be to avoid it getting too grimy in the first place - particularly as not only does cleaning it regularly help it function more efficiently and make it last longer - but it doesn't take much time either. As its easily done - using a dampened lint-free cloth - meaning a cloth wrung out in either water or if its very grimy a weak solution of gentle household cleaner - for cleaning the screen - which when then buffed with a dry lint-free cloth leaves the screen shiny and smear free and for the keyboard - as they tend to get way grimier than the screen - antibacterial wipes generally do an excellent job there - as does keeping food or drink well clear of it too.
I always use my hairdryer to clean the computer. I'll periodically take the side panel off to clean inside and find that the hairdryer is great for blowing all the dust off the small components. Beats forking out for compressed air. The amount of dust and grime that builds up in there is phenomenal and I'd urge everyone who can access the inside of thier devivce to have a good clean out every now and then.
Our office has an official cleansing material for computers that we use. It is prescribed and the maintenance people are the one in charge of cleaning. At home, what we use is liquid dishwashing soap. A sponge or rag that is soft is best to use. Dip the sponge in a mix of dishwashing soap and water to wipe out the dirt from the surface of the computer. Let it dry before using.
I once accidentally spilled hot chocolate into my laptop keyboard, and like an idiot I sprayed cif onto some paper roll and tried to wipe off the sticky excess. But then after introducing such a strong chemical to my keyboard, the keys were not working at all. I had to take my laptop into the shop to get it fixed, and it cost a pretty penny for him to fix it. Then he sold us some laptop cleaner, which is like a quick drying/evaporating foam? It has a very pleasant lemon smell. But it is perfect for cleaning. Not harmful to your computer at all.
@missbishi.....using the hairdryer sounds fantastic. It's not something I've ever considered, but I imagine it's good for blowing away all the hard to get to dust and fluff My husband and I discovered this brilliant MacBook cleaning solution that works a treat! It's an anti-bac spray that comes complete with the cloth and doesn't even cost a lot. We love it.
I have heard that even the smallest dust particles can cause problems for laptop keyboards. I am not sure about use keyboards though, because the keys on them seem to be more clunky, and a little harder for gunk and dust to get beneath. But some people's hairdryers are not the cleanest lol, so blowing that hidden stuff at your keyboard may not be safe either. It would be good if they started to sell these computers with the apt cleaning agents though.
Oh my gosh yes, if your dryer is blowing dust that it's harbouring onto you keyboard, that could very well cause more harm than good LOL Which like you say, begs the question why do these manufacturers not sell appliance appropriate devices and cleaning materials!? We really shouldn't have to improvise, risking damaging our machines; some people will try anything!
Especially if one has a lot of dandruff that gets stuck in the hairdryer, or especially if one has fine hair particles that could easily slip beneath those laptop keyboard keys. I suppose that the best way to avoid this is to wipe and clean the part where the air comes out of the hair dryer prior to focusing it at the keyboard. I did not even know that there were cleaning agents designed for cleaning laptops and the keyboards, or that using agents such as CIF would do any damage. But they should definitely tell people when they buy computers.
Oh Lordy Lord, you just grossed me out, @DreekLass LOL BUT you do have a point! I suppose you could maybe have a separate mini dryer, specifically for use on your computer devices. I mean, I suppose you could take care of that little problem by picking up cheap ones from some of these cheap bargain shops, it doesn't have to be a branded one. Clas Ohlson would be a great store for something like that.
If you asked someone who knows a lot about cleaning computers they'd tell that cleaning you computer or laptop using methylated spirit is one of the worst things you can do. But that's all because they've probably never used it in the first place. I always use methylated spirit to clean my computer and never had any issues.
Hahaha, sorry for all the grossing out lol I don't think a blow dryer is a good investment to make for the purpose of cleaning one's laptop lmao!! Say you got fine particles of apple crumble on your keyboard, and you used the mini hair dryer, and more of the crumbs got blown deeper lmao? It is best to use something wet that dries fast. Yeah, they sell them. I think our can was £5 from a off the road computer fixing shop.
I have a laptop and the most visible dirt is on the screen so i wipe that daily and gently. The keyboard is really a pain for me to clean because there's just dust hiding underneath the keys and it's not like you can take out each keys and do the clean up. I use my hair dyer to blow out the dust that's latching under the keyboard.
Do you use a commercial solution to wipe your screen every day, and if so does it cost a lot of money? I have an alcohol solution that I purchased from a corner computer repair shop a few years ago. It is more like foam, and it dries extremely fast so as to not damage any of the electronics beneath the keyboard keys.
I have seen computer maintenance personnel use a spray solution that comes in a tin which they spray and then cleans with a wipe cloth and a fine brush along with a spray device containing air is used to rid the keyboard of dust and debris. I don't see the need, as some persons may suggest, to throw out computer equipment if becomes dirty because cleaning it is not very costly and I believe that one should be able to get the advice and the appropriate solutions to do the task at a computer store.
Oh man, I only use an old cloth and alcohol to clean my laptop. Lol. I don't even know cleaning agents for laptops and desktops exist. I'm that naive, haha! I usually find dust in between the keyboard keys. The screen can get quite dirty and has fingermarks all over it although I don't touch it. And if ever I'm eating, which I try to avoid as much as possible, particles from my food can get into the keyboard as well. So what I do is wipe it off first with a clean cloth. Then I would get an alcohol and tissue and wipe off the screen and the keyboard. After that, I would get an old makeup brush and dust off any other dirt and dust from the laptop. If I'm crunched for time, I'll just use an anti-bacterial wipe to remove dirt from my laptop. Then I'd wipe it off with a tissue. I'm intrigued with this cleaning agent for Mac though. Do you know exactly how much it costs?
A good cleaning agent for electronics should not wet the components or cause short circuiting. To this end, methylated spirit is suitable because not only does it cool the parts but its a good cleaner and also quite cheap. The only problem is that it vaporizes fast. The best alternative is turpentine and you can mix this with methylated spirit to make a very good cleaner.
I just had my first issue with a dirty and noisy fan, so what I did was to just use the vacuum cleaner to get the dust out of the power supply, and after that the fan was not as noisy anymore, instead of the compressed air that most websites talk about.