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How to clean a flat screen TV

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Are you ready for Super Bowl Sunday? Not unless your flat screen TV is clean. Here’s how:

How to clean series:

Flat Screen TV or Monitor

Today’s flat screen TV’s and monitors must be cleaned differently than the old CRT monitors. The CRT monitors had a glass screen and could be cleaned the same way you would clean any other piece of glass.  Flat screens (Plasma, LCD, LED) are much more sensitive and can be easily scratched or damaged so they require some special care when cleaning. Before attempting to clean any TV screen or monitor you should always check the owners manual for instructions or special care.

Follow the easy steps below to safely clean your flat screen monitor or TV in just a few minutes.

  1. Turn off the TV/monitor and let it fully cool down for roughly 30 minutes. When the screen is dark, it will be easier to see the areas that are dirty or oily, and when it is fully cooled off there is less chance of damaging pixels.
  2. Use a dry, soft cloth and very gently wipe the screen. A great choice would be the microfiber type of cloth used to clean eyeglasses. Avoid using paper towel and never use anything remotely abrasive.
  3. If the soft dry cloth did not completely remove the dirt or oil, do not press harder in an attempt to scrub it off. Pushing directly on the screen can often cause pixels to burn out.
  4. If necessary, dampen the cloth (do not spray the screen) with distilled water or with an equal ratio of distilled water to white vinegar. Many companies also sell small spray bottles of special cleaner for flat screen monitors which you may want to consider but the vinegar mixture is usually just as effective.  Avoid cleaning products that contain ammonia, ethyl alcohol, acetone, toluene, ethyl acid, methyl chloride, or window cleaner (which is mostly ammonia). These chemicals can react with the materials that the flat screen is made of which could yellow the screen or cause other kinds of damage. Also avoid tap water as the minerals can leave white spots on the screen. Never spray liquid directly on an LED, LCD, or plasma screen. It could run inside the monitor and cause damage.

What’s your green resolution for 2012?

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The new year is here! Did you make any green resolutions for 2012?  Here are some great green resolutions that are fairly easy to implement, make a difference, and that you’ll enjoy.

Green Resolutions for 2012

Reduce meat consumption – have one or two vegetarian days (or more) per week.

Beef CAFO

Switch to organic meat – When eating meat, make a concerted effort to only eat organic meat.  Don’t buy meat products from Concentrated Animal Feed Operation (CAFO).  These operations generate lots of animal waste and the close confinement allows pathogens to run rampant.  As a result, CAFO animals are given large amounts of antibiotics and steroids to ward off infection.  You can read more about CAFOs here and here.

 

Reduce gasoline consumption

  • Ride a bike or walk to close by places of business and interest
  • Car pool to work
  • Take public transportation one or more times per week

Grow some of your own food!

This is a very fun green resolution.  Even if you live in an apartment, you can grow some small bit of food from herbs on a windowsill to growing a tomato plant on your terrace.  However much or little food you grow, every bit helps to reduce fossil fuel use at numerous points along our industrial food supply chain.  From diesel in tractors and trucks to natural gas derived fertilizers, our industrial agricultural system uses a tremendous amount of fossil fuel.

Small Raised Bed Garden - via Flickr

There are other benefits in addition to reducing fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions.  Growing a garden is a great way to spend quality time with the family.  One of my favorite benefits is that you can grow unique heirloom varieties of different vegetables.  They taste great and some of them look wild and exotic.

A related resolution: Eat more locally grown food

Eating locally grown food also helps reduce the amount of diesel fuel used for food transport.  Plus it helps the local economy.

You can buy locally at the Denver Farmers Market and the Boulder Farmers Market.

 

A perennial green resolution, reduce waste. 

There are so many ways that we can all reduce the amount of waste we produce everyday.  Here are just a few simple ideas to think about.

  • Don’t use single use coffee cups
    PortionPac
  • Carry a handkerchief with you instead of tissue paper
  • Use old cloth, towels and sheets instead of paper towels to clean up messes in the kitchen. Wash, rinse and repeat.
  • Green house cleaning. At Clean Conscience, we use PoritonPac and Sh-mop cleaning products that greatly reduce packaging waste and resource waste while providing a superior clean.

Have you made a green resolution this year that I didn’t mention?  Share it with us in the comments.

 Photo credit: redteam - Flickr