Cleaning your TV Screen Ready For Christmas TV

Ever tried to clean your TV screen and been left with more streaks and marks than when you started? This is for you.

It’s not long now until Christmas, and one thing we can look forward to with the holidays drawing closer is, of course, Christmas telly. But it’s no good if a streaky flatscreen ruins your festive viewing. So how do you clean your TV screen without leaving streaks and pesky marks?

Turn the TV off at the mains

This part speaks for itself a bit, as you need to see what you’re doing and avoid damaging yourself or the TV. Using any liquid to clean a powered-on LCD TV screen can leave streaks due to heat, making it more prone to marking.

Use a dry, clean, and lint-free cloth

Be sure that any cloths you’re using to clean your screen are dry. Perhaps rather obviously, your electronics don’t mix well with water, and the screen will benefit from a lighter touch; preferably, use a lint-free cloth.

You could even use a feather duster or a microfiber cloth if you have one – but definitely give the kitchen roll a miss at the dusting stage, as this will only scratch up the screen. At this stage, use as light a touch as possible, and clean in a slow, circular motion to remove dust from the screen without leaving a mark.

Get rid of existing marks

If lightly dusting your TV screen still leaves you with many marks, you probably have existing ones that need to be removed.

These stubborn markings will likely be too strong for a microfiber cloth, so your best course of action is to get a new cloth and use some distilled water.

We recommend moistening your cloth with distilled water and never applying any cleaning solution directly to the screen. This can cause moisture to enter the seal around the screen and damage the electronics. Dampen the cloth very slightly so you can wipe away any stubborn streaks – then follow up with a dry cloth to remove excess moisture.

Worst-case scenario: You’ve done everything up until now, and the markings are persisting.

But remember, whatever your gut instinct might be, this is not the time to be reaching for cleaning chemicals, as they, particularly those with an ammonia base (commonly found in popular brands like Dettol, Flash, and Cif), can break down the protective layers on LCD flat-screen TVs and severely damage the screen.

So what can you do instead?

Use antibacterial wipes

Something we’ve all become more accustomed to having around and using in the COVID-19 pandemic is alcohol-based cleaning wipes. These might even now be the first port of call for cleaning a grubby flat-screen; however, we recommend using a little distilled water alongside it to reduce the alcohol’s strength and avoid damaging the screen. Do this with a very light touch, and it should do the job nicely and safely.

Note: As you are still using water, all of our previous advice about turning off electronics and drying the screen afterwards still applies.

Try some DIY Remedies

And no, these aren’t urban myths like your Gran might’ve recommended back in the day. Our cleaning experts can suggest some effective DIY home solutions to this decidedly modern problem.

The first one you might want to try involves using the materials you should’ve already attempted, along with another food product that most will already have at home.

• Combine 50% white wine vinegar with 50% distilled water
• Combine DIY remedies like this in a spray bottle and then spray it onto a lint-free cloth
• Again, wipe in a circular motion to avoid any more streaks, then wipe away excess mixture with a dry cloth to prevent vinegar from sticking to the screen or seeping behind it.

You could also try using a minimal amount of dish soap at a significantly lower ratio, as bubbles can easily get out of hand. Follow the same process: combine distilled water in a spray bottle, spray onto a lint-free cloth, rub in circles, then dry off with a dry cloth.

Call in the Experts

If you would rather leave all of your domestic cleaning needs to the professionals, find your nearest Merry Maids business to book a clean or call 0800 021 3072 today.