If you’re working without distilled water and your tap water is fairly mineral-free, it likely won’t be an issue. But not everyone has the pure stuff on hand. If you have hard water, take note, we’re talking about you. Lots of people recommend distilled water, mostly because your tap water might have minerals in it that could scratch a screen. Some brands sell TV cleaning wipes, which often do a fine job, but cost a lot more than the DIY solution and create more waste. Just as abrasive surfaces can ruin your TV, so can abrasive chemicals like acetone, ammonia, and alcohol-they can eat away the plastic. Your TV may have even come with its own cleaning cloth.įor tougher messes like caked-on cheese, you may want to get things a little wet, but using the wrong liquid can damage your screen. A microfiber cloth is your best bet, especially because you may already have one, or something similar, for cleaning your eyeglasses or other screens. You’ve got to make sure whatever fabric you choose is soft, too. But because even paper towels can scratch the surface, they’re not the best thing to clean a TV screen. Most of the time, you’re probably fine with a dry cloth so you don’t need to buy a special TV screen cleaner. And while there are differences in construction and picture quality, you clean them all the same way: gently, with a soft, dry cloth (and maybe a little moisture if you need it).

That’s no surprise, as these currently dominate the television market. The vast majority of you are likely to have an OLED (organic light-emitting diode), QLED ( quantum dot LED TV), LCD (liquid crystal display), or LED TV. But hey, sometimes you don’t have time to read or dig through a bunch of old papers for something you can just learn on the internet.

Manufacturers usually include cleaning tips and methods in that little paper booklet, and giving it a quick skim could help you avoid trashing the warranty. You should also try to dig up your TV’s user manual. A TV isn’t going to spin up and slice off your fingers like, say, a table saw might, but it could give you a little zap (or worse, if there’s some sort of defect you don’t know about). Second, it’s always safest to disconnect any link to electricity when you’re working on something that could draw power. For one, it’s easier to see dust and smudges on a dark surface, so you’ll be able to target those grubby fingerprints with surgical precision. The first thing you should do is turn your TV off, or even unplug it.

How to clean flat screen tv