Eyeglass Cleaner Ruined My Matte Screen?

[mamamia88]

I tried cleaning my matte screen with eyeglass cleaner and now there is a huge area that is super bright and almost unusable. Any way to fix something like this? or am I out of luck?

[Iowan]

A solvent might cut through the residue (if the eyeglass cleaner left something behind). Alcohol is probably safe. Another solvent to consider would be naptha. Fingernail polish remover might be getting a bit aggressive, and carburetor cleaner can ruin things in a hurry.
It partly depends if the cleaner left a coating, or actually polished the (glass?) screen.

[mamamia88]

I believe that the screen is plastic. I believe the only alcohol I have is rum but definitely don't want to use that on the screen. Heres a pic of what is looks like. I think it's more of the coating being rubbed off but I could use another opinion

[Paqman]

Maybe the eyeglass cleane is intended to mask out scratches?

Indeed, it might be a very mild abrasive, in which case using it on a plastic screen is a bad idea. In general using glass cleaners on display panels is bad, but a lot of people do it. They spray glass cleaner on their TV screen because they don't realise that TV screens (which used to be glass) are now plastic.

I believe the only alcohol I have is rum

Lol, he didn't mean the drinking kind (ethyl alcohol). You can get isopropyl alcohol from chemists or electrical supplies stores, it's good for cleaning electronics.

[momist]

I would expect that the "matt" screen was a very finely textured finish on the plastic, and that your eyeglass cleaner has either filled it in with something oily, or melted the surface and made it smooth. The first should be solvable with a solvent, but the second would be irreversible. Maybe the eyeglass cleane is intended to mask out scratches?
I have had success with a purpose made cleaner called "Safeclens" marketed here in the UK under the AF brand name. I don't know if that would solve your problem, but it might be worth a try. Heavy oily deposits may need several applications though, as it is very mild. I'd be very wary of anything not intended for the purpose, like general purpose alcohol etc. Incidentally, those paper tissue lens cleaners intended for camera's work very well, as do clean (new?) microfibre cloths, to apply the Safeclens.

[xc3RnbFO8P]

Did you press too hard on the screen?

32" LCD TV use about 8 horizontally mounted flourescent bulbs. They use a plastic material that diffuses (spreads) the light from each bulb evenly on the screen. If this Diffusion Material becomes wrinkled it will leave a grey cloudy look on the screen.

[neu5eeCh]

Not that this helps, but my advice to anyone in the future who stumbles on this thread is to never, never, never, never, never use anything but water on your screen in a damp terry cloth towel. Never use paper of any kind - whether it's tissue paper or paper towels. Nearly all paper has wood fibers in it, and wood fibers won't play nice with plastic. That's my 2 cents. Take it or leave it. (I once nearly had a heart attack when my wife said she had used windex on the screen of my brand, spanky new Sony VAIO laptop.)

[coldraven]

How about contacting the eye glass cleaner manufacturers or looking at the ingredients.
It may be difficult to remove a coating without melting your screen.

[MichaelFindlay]

Reading this I am glad I have never used the glasses cleaner I have on my equipment, I always use a cloth soaked in water then squeezed out till its just wet enough that it will not do any damage to my screens and devices. I always then wipe them off with something afterwards, always done the trick for me.

You may be able to remove the effect of cleaner on your screen using the above method with any luck! *Fingers Crossed*

[buzzingrobot]

FWIW, the eyeglass cleaner I buy *is* isopropyl alcohol diluted in water. (Rather, used to buy. Now, I just make my own.)

I'm not sure the damage can be repaired. To guess, it seems part of the matte finish has been removed. Using anything else but a very soft cloth dampened with water might increase the damage.