How to clean your TV screen

Recent research commissioned by Samsung revealed that we in Great Britain are currently spending 28 hours a week glued to our telly screens. 86 percent of the 2,000 people surveyed said it helped them get through the bleak winter months which, this year have been made a whole lot worse by being locked down.

Whether it’s binging the best shows on Netflix or best movies on Amazon Prime, or the excellent new A Perfect Planet on iPlayer, there’s more than enough great content to fill those hours.

But there’s nothing worse than being distracted by the kids’ hand prints on the screen in dark scenes.

Whatever you do, don’t whip out the furniture polish and an old t-shirt to get the job done, as you may do more harm than good. We’ll explain the right way to clean a TV screen.

You’ll need a non-abrasive cloth, with a microfibre towel being the best option. These will be gentle on the display’s surface while still removing dust and surface grime.

Microfibre cloths are cheap and widely available, with Amazon UK offering a pack of six for £9.99 and Amazon US offering a pack of 12 for $11.99.

You may also want to get a few screen wipes that can also be used for cleaning laptops, as these can be handy for removing any stubborn stains that come from fingers touching the screen. 

Don’t use tap water, as this will leave a residue when it dries, but you can use distilled water (which you can make at home – just search YouTube and you’ll find plenty of guides).

Avoid amonia-based glass cleaners, too. You can use isopropyl alcohol, which is used for cleaning camera lenses among other things) but it’s recommended to go for some with 50 percent or less alcohol in it.

If you prefer to use wipes, we found a tub of Ori Lemoon monitor wipes costing $12.99 on Amazon US and a similarly sized container from Ecomoist on Amazon UK for £6.96.

How to clean a modern flat-screen TV

• Use gentle pressure
• Work on a small area at a time

Take your microfibre cloth – ideally dampened with some distilled water – and work on a small area to remove dust and any light smudges that have built up. If you have the water or an alcohol-based cleaner in a spray bottle, you can apply this directly to the area you’re working on but don’t go mad and have liquid running down the screen into the bezel. 

If your set has plastic or metal surrounds, these can be cleaned with a little more vigour, just be careful not to press hard on the screen itself as you may damage it.

Should you have more hardy marks on the screen, then you might want to move onto the screen wipes. Due to the different coatings applied by various manufacturers, we advise you to read the manual that came with the TV or Google the model for the manufacturer’s cleaning advice before using the screen-wipes, just in case they would cause any damage.

If you want to spruce up other items around the house, be sure to also read our guides on how to clean & disinfect your phone, how to clean your laptop and how to clean your keyboard.