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Ask the Doctor: Windex Worries

Posted 11/10/08 at 11:00:00 AM by The Maximum PC Staff

Ask the Doctor Logo A couple weeks ago I received a Dell Inspiron 6400 from a friend of mine. I was told that he used Windex directly on the screen, which dripped into the bottom of the LCD (between the screen and the housing). It now has a small, permanent “white fire” pattern on the bottom-center of the LCD screen. It appears not to be a physical effect, as I cannot see it when the laptop is off, but I can see it even when the backlight is turned off.
What should I do to fix my display?

—Jason Wesley

The Doctor has some bad news for you: Your situation is terminal. In this case, your laptop will require a screen transplant, as the Windex has irreversibly damaged the underlying layer of your panel. Even if you use Windex to clean a laptop’s screen—and the Doctor doesn’t recommend you do this—you need to resist the urge to spray it willy-nilly over the entire surface. Instead, spray a little bit on a cloth and use that to buff out your screen’s blemishes.

Ultimately, your screen will fare far better if you spritz a microfiber cloth with an alcohol-based LCD cleaner and give your screen a rub. You can make your own using a 50-50 mix of 70 percent isopropyl alcohol and distilled water. Or, if you’re feeling lazy, you can pick up a premixed screen cleaner from your computer store of choice.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.co\ for advice on how to solve your technological woes.

COMMENTS:8

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COMMENTS

OMG
Submitted by Drunken Hero on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 12:45pm

Were there really that many comments on what the proper alcohol mixture for cleaning a screen was? None helped that guy out. How about throwing a website his way where he could order the replacement screen? All this reading about alcohol's got me thirsty...

Drunken Hero

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Use the left over for dinner
Submitted by jamevay on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 1:07pm

After cleaning the screen, you can use the left over alcohol to drink with your dinner. Just don't get high

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Ethyl?
Submitted by dankers on Tue, 11/11/2008 - 6:28pm

Isn't ethyl 90% better for this type of use?

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Alcohol based? Hrm, I have
Submitted by Pyrophorics on Mon, 11/10/2008 - 11:48am

Alcohol based? Hrm, I have always heard that you should stay away from anything alcohol based when it comes to an LCD or Plasma, especially with glossy screens. The alcohol can slowly (sometimes quickly depending on the quality of the display) eat away at the screen.

*Edit* Yeah, there are other articles out there saying to use alcohol but why bother to risk it long term if you can do the same thing with just water?

Personally, I would rather not find out either way. I just stick with a microfiber cloth and purified water. Even in certain lighting you can see that there is no evidence of even microscratches when you stick to those two things.

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Correct me if I'm wrong...
Submitted by j.plath on Mon, 11/10/2008 - 11:12am

but wouldn't a 50-50 mix, by definition, be half and half? Not 70/30.

Typically, I'm not nit-picky. But when giving instructions, clarity is key.

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loluserious?
Submitted by c8503 on Tue, 11/11/2008 - 8:22am

if someone can't figure out that 50-50 is half and half they probably shouldn't be allowed to by the alcohol in the first place.

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You buy alcohol from the
Submitted by sirphunkee on Mon, 11/10/2008 - 11:17am

You buy alcohol from the store in a bottle, premixed at 70% (it's a standard amount). You then take the liquid from that bottle, and mix it 50/50 with water (add identical amounts of water and the "pre-mixed" alcohol).

Make sense now?

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