How to Clean Your Laptop | Hacker News Reader

How to Clean Your Laptop

nytimes.com

109 pointsmgav61 comments

Don'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.

Nothing 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.

My 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).

I 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 (no relation except as a satisfied customer).

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

this made me wonder if they did something like this for vim...which they do! https://www.editorskeys.com/products/vi-vim-keyboard-covers-...

I 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.

> 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-...

Huh, the article specifically says not to use Windex. You've not found it to damage the screen?

Given the huge variety of materials and construction for different types of screens, I don’t think any single answer here would be reliable.

Good 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.

If there is any coating on the screen, glass cleaner can make things worse. I did it to my old plasma display and introduced weird oily/rainbow smearing visible when off or extreme angles.

Never had any issue with laptop displays, glossy or matte though.

I've heard that you should disconnect the fan before using compressed air on it, lest it act as a generator and fry the motherboard. Can you speak to that?

To anyone reading this this nonsense above. DO NOT USE WINDEX, LYSOL, OR ANY CLEANER ON YOUR DISPLAYS. You WILL ruin it. Use a damp microfiber cloth with water.

It wouldn't be Hacker News without a few people commenting "let all your stuff get filthy so your immune system stays on its toes".

Not 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.

Sure. This article talks about “cleaning”, not “cleaning excessively”.

Don'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.

That 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.

> That sounds like basic common sense.

Agreed. Pushing a wet cloth against your keys is basically wringing it out right over the board.

I 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.

I 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

edit: Dammit. In Canada I can never find them not in bulk, though.

Keeping 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).

What 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?

probably 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.

Haha interesting, though in that case I'd worry about ants and such, whereas here I wouldn't, but but I guess maybe others might.

Eventually 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.

Haha wow, thanks... now I'm going to freak out every time I feel gentle hair on my body!! :-)

I 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.

Many 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...

Wow, I have a show box of these clothes! I just tossed them in when I was buying devices.

They shipped these till 2015.

I'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.

Also clean your smartphone. It builds up more bacteria than a petri dish laborant could hope for.

Do you have a citation for this? Because it surprises me. Most smartphones are hard, dry surfaces, which inhibits bacteria growth.

Any grease on your skin will find its way onto the phone, it's probably not as dry as you would think.

I'm not a scientist, but this paper found "high level bacterial contamination" of cell phones: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466825/

Anecdotally, we were recently in the NICU of a children's hospital and they required washing our hands and cleaning our cell phones before entering. It doesn't seem too far-fetched that they would have a reason for doing so.

Does the article address why cell phones wouldn't be an extension of the skin flora[1], in terms of normally having good bacteria? Or is there something about cell phones that kills off good bacteria, but not bad?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_flora (there are 1000 species of bacteria from 19 phyla normally inhabiting healthy skin)

People wash their hands. People don't usually wash their phone.

David Mitchell, a British comedian, has a great comment on this. Given that all smartphone users are not dead, it just goes to show how meaningless studies like that are.

Being around people with compromised immune systems requires different standards, but day to day, it doesn't seem to matter.

I understand the attraction of stories like this, but it's not science.

For all I know, I only got the flu this year because my cell phone is dirty. Same for my roommate and his sinus infection.

The immune system does its job extraordinarily well, but putting it to work does take a toll on your body. I suspect we'll have studies linking random episodes of mini-depression or a bad day at the gym to an immune system in the middle of a pitched fight against an illness that it eventually wins, meaning the person doesn't get sick, meaning they attribute the bad day to just a bad day.

You're right that there's no science in David Mitchell's argument, but I'm not seeing any science here proving that "more bacteria on your phone is bad for you".

That sounds witty for a minute, but if you think about it, almost every single person that died in the past 10 years used a cell phone.

All you have to do is tilt your touchscreen to see all the fingerprints smeared across the glass, to notice the microfilm of built up skin oils that provide an environment for microbial growth.

You 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.

Pet 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!?

Are you asking why anyone would ever touch something to their face and fingers?

Yes? I don't particularly enjoy the feeling of touch-screening through bacon grease, and am wondering why anyone would willingly subject themselves to this.

I'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)?

Most people have grease on their face, especially near the end of the day, and when they're careless enough to get it on their phone, it's roughly the same consistency as bacon grease.

Quick and dirty (pun intended) translation of the most important points of a recent newsitem on a Belgian Dutch tv channel (https://nieuws.vtm.be/vtm-nieuws/binnenland/video-zo-vuil-je...)

According to a KUL researcher, between 20 to 100 species of bacteria are living on any smartphone (she analysed 5 phones). Almost all species are skin bacteria, but a strand of stafylococcus aureus could cause problems such as sepsis, and wound infections.

Undoutedly, you have read ample smartphone reviews with complaints of smears being too visible on the casings or screens.

/me makes a note to not grind his cellphone into any gaping wounds

See https://nerdist.com/what-it-looks-like-when-students-press-t...

Or don’t, and keep your immune system on its toes. Over-cleanliness is known to be problematic, and it’s why we have kids who can be taken out with a peanut. If dirt in a a particular regime is positively linked to illness (i.e. cross contamination of raw meats during food prep) then take measures. On the other hand the mere fact that something is dirty or bacteria-laden is not a reason to run for antiseptic wipes.

The whole world is teeming with bacteria, most of it is harmless.

I hate to break this to you but _everything_ is covered in bacteria - the only way to be truly safe is to live in one of those big inflatable bubbles

You have around 1-2Kg of bacteria in your body right now. The inflatable bubble won't help you. You'll also probably die if you kill all of these bacteria as some of them are co-living with you.

Fun fact: you have approximately as many bacterial cells in/on your body as you have human cells.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4991899/

If 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.

I 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.

Um... "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.

The 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

Tomorrow for sure I'm gonna clean my MacBook Pro

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