My kids are high school seniors, so they and I have a lot of TV on our monthly bills. Still, I admit to getting a little lazy about cleaning our screens.
Every once in a while, I’ll use some white vinegar to scrub them – but that doesn’t always work. As a result, my kids and I have pretty much run out of time, patience and patience itself to catch our screens, leaving them stained and the living room looking like a scrubbing demo for Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts.
So I asked my local TV community to share some tips for cleaning up and keeping TV clean. And here’s what they had to say:
Keep trash bag handy, check the channels
Not everyone does a weekly sweep of TV. Some keep it spotless for just a few days, often just over the holiday season. But, depending on the nature of your TV, some require regular cleaning.
“Aesthetically, a new TV has to be cleaned monthly. Reruns can be kept in the trash can for days, so the trash bag is handy for extra duty,” says Allan Reich, sales manager at Amazon Direct in Federal Hill. “Good channels cleaner kits make clean up easy and it can last for weeks!”
Maybe a TV viewing party is in order. The key to keeping TV clean is to keep a trash bag near the TV and clean it up regularly.
Once they’re finished cleaning up, stay away from electronics
Marcy Roth, co-owner of Marcy’s Baby Boutique in Rockville, Maryland recommends that users of electronic gadgets avoid cleaning them for awhile, leaving dust stuck on screens to collect on anything that touches them.
“All the post-television batteries get caught on things like TVs, keyboards, speakers, light switches, etc.,” she says. “Also, electronics attract dust and bacteria, and if they’re not cleaned, they will start producing it.”
Keep dryer lint-free
Dust can build up when your sets are kept in a dry environment. Straws can help with lint buildup, but if you have electronics in the area, you can always use a dryer sheet.
“If it gets dried hard enough, it’s going to be a little longer, but if you put it into a dryer and keep it there on the actual vacuuming cycle, you get a healthy vacuum that will clear everything out,” says Ms. Roth.
Don’t wrap the surfaces in plastic
Wrap the surfaces in plastic so a dryer sheet won’t catch and collect dust. But, otherwise, use a dryer sheet for quick clean-up, or throw those wipes and cloths in the garbage.
For on-screen cleaning, perform daily, long-term maintenance
Jeannine Piarra, a manager at Lifemudsia (liferaunch.com), recommends to do all your TV cleaning on a regular basis, regardless of how dirty your TV gets. “Or, if you’re dead set on not doing any cleaning at all, it’s really not a bad idea to completely set the TV and do some other good work with your time.”