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

[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.)

[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.

[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.

[mips]

If you're lucky that from plastic part might be lose and can be replaced, if it's bonded to the screen it's gonna be a lot harder....

[mastablasta]

once we took samples of microfiber as we tried to resell them it didn't work eventhough they performed well on their testsand we offered better price than competition. so i now use them at home. they are just awesome for computer screen as well as tv. a bi tof watter and cheap mild glass cleaner does the trick.

[CharlesA]

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.

I've used those before, but my current "screen cleaner" stuff is deionized water and "proprietary polymers" whatever the heck that means.

I clean my screens with a microfiber cloth.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Ok, mammamia, don't panic.

Worst case scenario: The matte finish is a plastic sheet laid on top of the screen. If push comes to shove, all you have to do is take the screws off (there's a screw underneath each of the rubber stoppers around your screen), pop the frame open, and replace the plastic sheet. All in all, a 10 minute job (+ the time it may take you to find the plastic sheet, that is ;)).
As an added bonus, if, when you bought the computer, you actually wanted one with a shiny screen, now's the time to indulge.
But that takes me to a question I need to ask you: are you sure it's the finish that's screwed up? I can't be sure, looking at a screenshot, but that looks to me like you actually had some lens cleaner seeping underneath the plastic sheet, and it's just trapped between it and the surface of the LCD. If that's the case, you may just need to open it and dry it out.
If that's NOT the case, it'd help us a lot if you could tell us the formula of the lens cleaner you used, or at least the brand, so we can look at the MSDS.

Besides that, in the first page of this thread, somebody posted some very dangerous information that I feel the need to correct: methyl alcohol is NOT drinking alcohol. ETHYL ALCOHOL (a.k.a. "ethanol") is drinking alcohol. Methyl alcohol (a.k.a. "methanol", or "wood alcohol") is a VERY TOXIC SUBSTANCE that, upon its drinking, unprotected handling, and even the breathing of its fumes, can cause an array of health problems, including blindness and death. Please, DO NOT confuse the two.

[mamamia88]

Ok, mammamia, don't panic.

Worst case scenario: The matte finish is a plastic sheet laid on top of the screen. If push comes to shove, all you have to do is take the screws off (there's a screw underneath each of the rubber stoppers around your screen), pop the frame open, and replace the plastic sheet. All in all, a 10 minute job (+ the time it may take you to find the plastic sheet, that is ;)).
As an added bonus, if, when you bought the computer, you actually wanted one with a shiny screen, now's the time to indulge.
But that takes me to a question I need to ask you: are you sure it's the finish that's screwed up? I can't be sure, looking at a screenshot, but that looks to me like you actually had some lens cleaner seeping underneath the plastic sheet, and it's just trapped between it and the surface of the LCD. If that's the case, you may just need to open it and dry it out.
If that's NOT the case, it'd help us a lot if you could tell us the formula of the lens cleaner you used, or at least the brand, so we can look at the MSDS.

Besides that, in the first page of this thread, somebody posted some very dangerous information that I feel the need to correct: methyl alcohol is NOT drinking alcohol. ETHYL ALCOHOL (a.k.a. "ethanol") is drinking alcohol. Methyl alcohol (a.k.a. "methanol", or "wood alcohol") is a VERY TOXIC SUBSTANCE that, upon its drinking, unprotected handling, and even the breathing of its fumes, can cause an array of health problems, including blindness and death. Please, DO NOT confuse the two.
So could I just go without the plastic part? I believe it was for eyes brand but im at work and can't check right now. Pretty sure it didn't find a way to get behind screen

[Inodoro Pereyra]

So could I just go without the plastic part? I believe it was for eyes brand but im at work and can't check right now. Pretty sure it didn't find a way to get behind screen

You could, but I wouldn't recommend it. That plastic sheet is also a protector for the LCD screen, against scratches and whatnot.
Either way, depending on the computer, that plastic sheet will be nothing but a thin (probably between 1/64" and 1/32") lexan sheet, or even a lexan or celluloid film, pretty much like an x-ray picture but transparent, that you could buy in any store that sells plastic materials, and easily cut to shape. Like I said, it's really not a big deal. And if it's a thicker sheet, you can always polish the whole surface (once you got it OFF the computer) and either use it polished, or spray it with some matte clear coat paint, and get your matte finish back. Just take your time, and do things right. :)

[Paqman]

Besides that, in the first page of this thread, somebody posted some very dangerous information that I feel the need to correct: methyl alcohol is NOT drinking alcohol. ETHYL ALCOHOL (a.k.a. "ethanol") is drinking alcohol. Methyl alcohol (a.k.a. "methanol", or "wood alcohol") is a VERY TOXIC SUBSTANCE that, upon its drinking, unprotected handling, and even the breathing of its fumes, can cause an array of health problems, including blindness and death. Please, DO NOT confuse the two.

Oops, that was me. You're quite correct. Not sure why I wrote that. It's been edited.

[HermanAB]

Most likely, you have oil on the screen now. Clean it with blue Windex and a soft cloth.

[King Dude]

Does the cleaner solution contain Ammonia, Acetone, Ethyl Acid, Ethyl Alcohol, Methyl Chloride, or Toluene?

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Oops, that was me. You're quite correct. Not sure why I wrote that. It's been edited.

Thank you Paqman. I didn't really know it was you (too lazy to go back and look). Either way, thank you for editing it. :D

[tgalati4]

Try removing all of the matte finish with the eyeglass cleaner. Go get some matte art fixative at a craft store. Mask off the bezel with tape and respray it.

[eddier]

Looking at the picture my money is on something getting under the top layer-look at the edge pattern between good and damaged.
Did you spray cleaner directly on the screen? If so it may have puddled a little and been siphoned between the layers.

eddie

[tgalati4]

I've seen large, flat panel TV screens lose their anti-glare coating (purple, dichroic coating) by a housekeeper using Windex on it. So it's possible that your laptop had a polymer-based film as an anti-glare coating, that got dissolved by the ammonia or some other ingredient in the eyeglass cleaner. You might be able to apply an anti-glare film over the screen, but you will have to do some research on an appropriate film.