Comments on: Seeking advice for cleaning laptops and keyboards

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:54:09 +0000

This post is getting an unbelievable amount of spam on it, so I’m going to temporarily close comments on it. I’ll reopen comments on Wednesday. Sorry for the inconvenience.

By: Bet

Bet — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:40:45 +0000

I didn’t have time to carefully read the other posts to see if anyone mentioned this but, I have replaced my Magic Eraser with the Gleen cloth. They don’t leave any residue, unlike the eraser, which leaves dirty bits of itself which you also have to clean off. I use Gleen to clean walls, windows, refrigerators, etc. It’s a great unclutter, as it may replace some cleaning products! There is a website- I think it’s Gleen.com. I found mine at my local grocery store.

By: gypsy packer

gypsy packer — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:58:59 +0000

Tim’s correct, go with the black ThinkPad Energy Star.
Think about all the energy, resources, and time on white computer supremacy.

By: DarJon

DarJon — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:36:46 +0000

I’m with @Laura and @Klara on this! I little while ago, a printed T-shirt I had on stained my white MacBook badly, as it was on my lap.

My MacBook was covered in hideous blue and black stains all down the front glossy side just under the wrist rests, all over the wrist rests and lightly on the trackpad. After some scrubbing, most came off of the glossy areas and the trackpad, but the wrist rests remained stained. After hours frantically searching for a solution online and trying Windoleen (Windex) and even a scrubbing brush lightly, I thought I was doomed.

But then I came accross this article: http://lifehacker.com/353647/r.....toothpaste. Toothpaste. However, I didn’t read the instructions on the article exactly, and simply applied a dab of my little sister’s Milk Teeth (light and not abrasive, just in case) toothpaste to some kitchen towel, and then rubbed it onto the stains. After about a minute of working it into the stained areas, no wet toothpaste was visible and the stains were completely gone. No sign! Relieved, I smelt my minty-MacBook (which now looked like new) and thanked God that I was able to revive my gorgeous MacBook’s looks. I simply dampened some more kitchen towel and wiped gently to remove the minty smell and any dried on toothpaste.

Swear by it now!!

By: JefferyK

JefferyK — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 06:39:59 +0000

I also have had success with a damp microfiber cloth. I haven’t tried it with hand santizer gel, but I may now. I worship my collection of microfiber cloths. Not only do they spruce up my MacBook, they do an incredible job cleaning eyeglasses and buffing chrome.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:15:34 +0000

http://mrclean.com/en_US/sharethelove.do

You can get a free Mr. Clean Magic Eraser through this site, I just found out.

By: Diana

Diana — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:14:57 +0000

I use a microfiber cloth moistened with hand sanitizer gel (it’s mostly isopropyl alcohol). It works wonders. I use the gel on my glasses & sunglasses too – no streaks.

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:11:49 +0000

A damp microfibre cloth works wonders on my iBook G4.

By: rutinerad

rutinerad — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:20:38 +0000

My brother used to have a white iBook. He cleaned it with tooth paste and it looked like new afterwards.

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:40:51 +0000

This discoloration was a materials defect. I sent my MacBook back to Apple for replacement while it was still under warranty. The replacement does not discolor.

By: Kara

Kara — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:58:05 +0000

I second the idea of using Novus plastic polish. I’m not a Mac user (yet) but I’ve used Novus on all my mid-century white plastic furniture with great success. The magic clean sponges are great for removing marks from walls but I can’t imagine they’d be good on plastic.

By: Courtney

Courtney — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:55:54 +0000

mmmmmmn, now you have formaldehyde all over your keyboard. FYI, I took my macbook in for another problem and they replaced the casetop for free because it was a known defect. It didn’t happen to my new one.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:59:08 +0000

I have used rubbing alcohol. Works quite well.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:25:44 +0000

I have always used Diaper Wipes…yes, you read that right. Diaper Wipes, I never use the scented. Pampers work great as do the Costco brand (I prefer the Costco brand, they work a bit better).

There are no harsh chemicals in them, and so far, I’ve successfully cleaned a MacBook (white, like the one pictured in the article) a 15″, 17″ MacBook Pro, several iMacs, a G4 tower, G5 tower and a Mac Pro Tower – oh, and a Mini.

Regardless of dirt, it almost always gets the dirt off (99% of the time for me, it’s 100% gone.)

By: Klara

Klara — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:24:13 +0000

http://lifehacker.com/353647/r.....toothpaste

Cheap solution?

By: laure

laure — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:12:49 +0000

windex on the keyboard!

By: Nancy

Nancy — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:09:40 +0000

I have both an iBook and an iMac at home, and I have an iMac at my office. I use the store bought Clorox wipes to clean the keys and the touchpad (on the laptop). For the screens, always use water, nothing else. I usually just dampen a towel and wipe the screens.

I’m thrilled with how well the faux Clorox wipes clean the keyboard, and the water makes the screens look great.

Nancy

By: chat

chat — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:46:51 +0000

I found that oil-based cleaners work best. I used MC, and oil-based polisher/cleaner typically used for office tables and equipment (I don’t know if this is available in the US). Because it smelled really nasty, I tried using Ponds Cold Cream which was also oil based, and it worked so well, and smelled better.

By: JManna

JManna — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:39:28 +0000

409. It’s a magic solution to most any kind o grime. I used to clean houses for a living. Nicotine stains, grease and those smudges of grime on the light switch, they are all solved by 409.

What is actually causing the stain is oil from your skin gluing the dirty to the plastic. Test the 409 on a small place on the casing (I recommend the underside) to make sure it won’t eat away at the plastic. If it doesn’t mar the plastic, go to town.

By: jeremy

jeremy — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:25:42 +0000

toothpaste is all you need.
just dab it on some rolled up toilet paper and scrub.
it works & lasts for quite some time.