It’s the perfect time to buy cleaners for monitors and PCs this season to keep your battlestation tidy and free from allergens. Cleaning our beloved gear is probably one of the least thought of when it comes to shopping and priority lists, but that doesn’t mean it’s less important. It is always ideal to keep things in our home tidy and free from dust and grime for health reasons and to enhance our gear’s longevity.
The gaming monitors, PCs, consoles, and everything in between we buy are investments. They give us tremendous amounts of enjoyment and are the windows that help us look past our daily struggles or challenges. It just makes sense to keep them organized and neat so they are always ready for an intense session after a hard day at work or school.
Benefits of Using Cleaners for Monitors and PCs
Aside from looking good, there are also a few more tangible benefits from keeping your devices clean. Dust and moisture can permanently damage monitors and PCs, especially if they build up and somehow get inside the devices. Food or snack fragments, on the other hand, can attract insects like ants into your system and eventually fry a circuit inside.
Wiping down or blowing dust away can prevent permanent damage from happening to your monitors and PCs. Shorted circuits are more common on dusty motherboards and graphics cards, but we’ve seen them happen to monitors. What’s worse is that this will happen suddenly, so it might leave you in a bind if an immediate replacement isn’t accessible.
Another benefit of keeping your monitors and PCs clean is that you avoid extended exposure to allergens. Some of us sneeze to hell with a slight hint of dust or mold, so blowing or wiping them away can be beneficial. It’s also not pleasant to sneeze or cough in front of a screen because it will spray saliva and residue on your display.
How Much Will I Need to Spend?
Chances are, you won’t need much, especially if you go with basic options like a trusty microfiber cloth. However, there are some products that cost a bit more, but they tend to last a while when used at a regular pace. Some of the recommendations below should last a few years, although the electronic options will also need some level of care for longevity.
Remember that this is a small investment that you can make for your health and to protect your bigger investments. It’s quite sad to see DOA computers worth thousands that were damaged by something simple like dust build-up. Another benefit to this is that you get to build another toolkit that everyone likes to build and keep.
Best Cleaners for Monitors and PCs
AirTec Electric Air Duster
The AirTec Electric Air Duster is honestly one of the best cleaners for monitors and PCs you can buy. It’s a powerful electric duster that’s strong enough to clear dust and mold, especially when you utilize one of its many attachments that can shape its air output. It also has a dual-mode version with high/low output for fifty bucks, but the cheaper silver version will do well in cleaning out your electronics and other household items.
Orbit Blower
The Orbit Blower is your best bet for more sensitive cleaning, like camera sensors or the nooks and crannies of your custom keyboard. It sports a precise nozzle to get to those top spots, but it also has a NIOSH-rated HEPA filter and an ionizing silicone bulb that helps neutralize the stuff you don’t want, like static. It’s pricey for something so tiny, but it’s the only one approved for use by NASA.
Klear Screen
Klear Screen is one of the more “classic” screen cleaners out there, but it’s been tested over time. It is an odorless liquid that makes grime and residue removal buttery smooth, plus it leaves a very thin film that makes dirt slide off easily. We recommend getting the kit pictured above since it already includes two bottles and six microfiber cloths.
3M Electronics Microfiber Cleaning Cloth
This pack of 3M Electronics microfiber cleaners for monitors and PCs is pricey, but the bag already includes 20 sheets. That’s almost a lifetime supply of clothes that will not scratch or leave fibers and microparticles on any display. It has dense ribbon-shaped fibers that actually scoop up dust instead of just moving it around.
Weiman Electronic and Screen Disinfecting Wipes
Weiman’s wipes for electronics clean and polish your monitors and PCs, but they also disinfect every surface they touch. 1 sheet lasts one round of cleanup, so the 20-sheet canisters should last a while. You can buy it in two or four-pack bundles, but you can also get a subscription order from Amazon if you need refills regularly.
OXO Good Grips Sweep and Swipe Brush and Laptop Cleaner
The OXO Sweep and Swipe is the Swiss knife of cleaners for monitors and PCs. It features a retractable soft brush on one end and a microfiber pad for removing smudges and fingerprints. The pen-type cleaner is the same, but it is very useful for nooks and crannies its bigger brother won’t reach.
Philips GoPure GP5212 Air Purifier
The Philips GoPure GP5212 air purifier is probably a bit extreme, but having one on your desk will keep dust and other allergens at bay. It cleans 100 types of pollutants, including smoke, bacteria, and viruses. It’s easy to use and install, plus it also works in cars, so you can take it on trips whenever the need arises.
About the Author: Paolo has been a gaming veteran since the golden days of Doom and Warcraft and has been building gaming systems for family, friends, and colleagues since junior high. High-performance monitors are one of his fixations; he believes that every citizen has the right to enjoy one. He has gone through several pieces of hardware in pursuit of every bit of performance gain, much to the dismay of his wallet. He now works with Monitornerds to scrutinize the latest gear and create reviews that accentuate the seldom-explained aspects of a PC monitor.
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