How to Clean A Flat Screen TV

OK, I have to say this first, because a lot of people don’t know how to clean a flat panel TV—don’t use household glass cleaner. Repeat—don’t use household glass cleaner. Why?

Yes, your TV is made of glass, and glass cleaner cleans glass, but your windows and your TV screen are very different animals.

Your window glass is just glass—clear silicon-based sheets designed to keep out the rain and lightning bugs. The glass on your expensive TV is very different. It’s designed to allow the luscious colors of the rainbow come shining into your living room, but not react to all the other light out in your room. In other words, the glass surface of a TV sports a special optical coating to help cut down glare from ambient room light. That coating can be a sensitive fellow, and when you wipe it with the harsh chemicals found in your blue bottle of window cleaner, you’re slowly wearing down that coating. I’ve seen the results in friends’ and neighbors’ TVs—you can clearly see the uneven light distortion in a TV that’s been cleaned with Windex and paper towels. In fact, you can ruin sunglasses the same way.

So how do you clean a flat screen TV? OK, so now you know not to use regular glass cleaner (I said that earlier, right?). Also, don’t use paper towels or any cloth that could contain fibers that may scratch the surface (same goes for your 3D glasses, by the way, which is why they came with a nice microfiber cloth).

For routine daily cleanings (if you have a very dusty house) a quick wipe with a microfiber cloth will remove the surface dust. Most of the time that’s all you need to do. If something gets on your TV, say a splash from a spilled drink or a wet dog that shook himself dry in front of the TV (happens in my house all the time), just wipe it up with the microfiber cloth (you can dampen it with water to remove stray gunk).

If your TV has vents and gills that have clogged up with dust over time, use a compressed air can (the same kind you use to clean a laptop) to gently blow the dust out.

If your TV has lots of fingerprints and other smudges (again, dog nose smudges are something that happens in my house), then a spray cleaner that’s safe for flat panel TVs will work.

Peerless screen cleaning spray gel is a good solution because it’s alcohol free and so won’t damage the TV’s optical coating or leave any streaks on the TV. It comes in a pump spray bottle and includes a microfiber cloth (don’t lose it). A bottle costs about $10 on Amazon.

Sanus also makes a nice TV screen cleaning kit that comes with a microfiber cloth, a soft brush and spray gel. Bello AV offers a similar kit with spray cleaner and cloth.