LCD screens in cars get dirty. Touch screens suffer from fingerprints, and any LCD screen is a dust and dirt magnet. Since these screens will get dirty, you’re going to wipe them. The worst thing you can do is wiping your LCD screen with a dry cloth or a “Kleenex” tissue. Any grime on the screen becomes an abrasive that potentially puts scratches in your expensive investment. Touch screen monitors are the most vulnerable to cumulative “scratch-damage.” Ammonia based cleaners (i.e., “Windex” type glass cleaners) can ruin an LCD screen since the ammonia destroys the anti-reflective outer layer and any coating on the LCD screen.

The best way to clean an LCD is using products designed for camera lenses. One very good product is Zeiss Pre-Moistened Lens Cloths. These are individually packaged wipes meant for one time use. The wipe is moist with isopropanol and acetone. You simply remove the folded cloth from its packet and lightly brush away dust and grit from the LCD’s surface. Then you unfold the cloth and wipe the LCD screen until it is dry and clean. It does not leave streaks or residue.

They come in box with 21 individually wrapped cloths. The cost is $7.99, and that is about a six month supply depending upon the frequency you clean your LCD screen.
--Spike

 

My office has LCD monitor cleaners that I take out to my car.

 

Nice. Now I just have to find out where I can buy some.

 

Wolf Camera or Office Depot?

 

how about just a damp cloth? is that not a good idea?

 

Best way is 50-50% solution of alcohol and water and a microfiber towel.

 

Not a bad idea if the LCD screen is fairly clean and you are only removing dust and non-oily substances (not stuff that the plastic surfaces in car interiors "give-off" in hot environments).

A damp cloth (as long as the cloth is one that won’t scratch the surface) is OK, but I would use distilled water instead of tap water. The problem when using plain water is it tends to smear and doesn’t clean (and just mixes with the dust and grime leaving a dirty layer on the screen). Adding soap for emulsification to lift the dust and grime is a bad idea since it can damage the coating on a LCD, and soap will leave a residue.
--Spike

 

Have been an Optician for 24 years and deal with "anti-reflective" coatings every day. True that anything with ammonia is death to the coat! I have always used (both personally and at the clinic) denatured alcohol to clean any surface with anti reflective coating. Removes dirt, grease, and smudges like no other cleaner. Look at the most prevelent ingrediant in most all cleaners made for A/R coats and you will see it is usually denatured alcohol. Try it with a micro fiber cloth and you will love it. By the way it is only a few bucks for a pint and a few cents for a small spray bottle. Lasts a LONG time.

 

That is pretty much what I describe above. I realize that you understand and know the differences, but for clarity and to prevent someone from misreading the message and making a mistake, I would like to elaborate.

1) If you buy a bottle of “cleaning” alcohol that you intend using on a LCD screen, it must be “pure” alcohol. As an example of how this could go wrong: When you purchase a bottle of alcohol from a pharmacy or industrial supplier, the alcohol is usually mixed with one or more other ingredients. The main concern of alcohol suppliers is the fact that if it catches fire, there is no visible flame and a greater potential for serious burns. That is why they mix something in the alcohol to make it burn with a yellow flame, and that is not a product you want to use on your LCD screen.

2) Alcohol products are not the same. The alcohol you need to clean a LCD is isopropyl alcohol. Isopropanol cleans well and evaporates almost instantly so there is no smear layer. Manufactures of expensive camera lenses (e.g., Carl Ziess, Nikon, and Canon) recommend using only certain types of cleaners. Their lenses have multiple coatings (similar to the coating used on LCD screens) that are easily damaged by abrasion or ammonia based “soaps.”

IMO buying prepackaged single-use screen cleaners is the best way to maintain your LCD screen. There is little chance of scratching the screen using single-use wipes, and you always get a clean screen. The cost is minimal (less than $20 for a year’s supply).

The only caution I would mention is the suppliers’ notice that these packets should not be stored in an environment where the ambient temperature reaches higher that 100 degrees. That is probably “overkill” and a protective statement to reduce liability. There is hardly anywhere in the summer months where a car’s interior won’t go above 100 degrees.
--Spike

 

Great post...thanks for the info.