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todd · Jul 23, 2007, 10:15 AM

I like the little cloth that came with the iPhone.. it's perfect for quickly cleaning up the screen from inevitable finger and face smudges. I thought I had lose mine (I later found it in my golf bag) and was searching around to find a replacement. What I found:

- Apple does not sell replacement iPhone cloths. They should sell 5 or 10 packs of these things.. I would keep one in my car, one in my laptop bag, one at work, etc. But, they aren't available yet.

- iKlear.com keyboard protector cloths are almost as nice. I use one as a screen/keyboard protector in my MacBook Pro, and it came with a little trackpad prtotector cloth I never used. This works great as an iPhone cloth.

- 3M "Scotch-Brite" Microfiber cloths work pretty well. I have a few I use for cleaning my glasses. They are a bit large to carry around, but are nice to have in the car or at work. They sell these at Target, in the cleaning supplies area. They have a bunch of different types of cloths, some not well suited for iPhone care. I have a glass cleaning cloth, as well as a couple other soft cotton cloths. They are inexpensive, compared to iKlear.

Anyone else got any good iPhone cleaning cloth solutions?

BLAZE_MkIV · Jul 23, 2007, 10:52 AM

I would think a camera store would be the place to go.

todd · Jul 23, 2007, 11:14 AM

> I would think a camera store would be the place to go.

Yes, or an eyeglass store. Both would have cloths for cleaning delicate glass gear. But, given the durability of the iPhone screen, this may be overkill. Those are expensive cloths, meant to care for very expensive glass (camera lenses). I'll check out the options/prices next time I'm in my local camera shop.

The 3M cloths at target are nice because they are inexpensive. I also see that 3M makes some smaller cloths intended for cleaning eyeglasses, which are still pretty cheap. I'll poke around Target to see if I can find this next time I'm in one.

todd · Jul 23, 2007, 11:32 AM

I see that iklear.com has an iPhone cleaning kit product: The Klear Screen and iKlear Online Store - Detail

But, $20 seems a bit excessive. The little "travel singles" are those foil packs with wet/dry disposable towlettes. Those, and the spray bottle seem fairly useless to me. So, $20 for one large micro-chamois and one small micro-chamois seems very high.
$20 for a ten pack of small micro-chamois would be worth it, but not this "kit".

This one, a Mac laptop keyboad cover kit seems like a better deal: The Klear Screen and iKlear Online Store - Detail
It has two micro-chamois cloths, one small trackpad cover, and one larger keyboard cover, for $10.

analogika · Jul 23, 2007, 11:34 AM

Any eyeglass-cleaning cloth will do. Ask any person who wears glasses; they'll usually have a couple extra accumulated over the years.

Else, any optician might give away ones with his logo on them.

todd · Jul 24, 2007, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by analogika

Any eyeglass-cleaning cloth will do. Ask any person who wears glasses; they'll usually have a couple extra accumulated over the years.

Else, any optician might give away ones with his logo on them.

As a long-time eyeglass wearer, I would disagree with your first statement. In fact, cleaning my glasses was why I had the 3M microfiber cloths in the first place.

Also, many of the cloths they have at opticians are those silk-like cloths, which just don't feel right to me. They don't seem like they would be good for smudge removal. I prefer the "chamois" feel of the cloth that comes with the iPhone (or the iKlear cloths).

I stopped by a Target store last night, but I wasn't able to find any of the 3M cloths designed for eyeglasses. They did have the microfiber dusting cloths and glass cleaning cloths in the cleaning area. Maybe a drug store would have the other cloths.

badsey · Jul 29, 2007, 10:29 AM

I goto Dollar Tree and pay $1 + tax for microfiber cloths. Maybe hard to find = usually by the cleaning stuff/mops etc.

I am too cheap to pay $10-20 for an official 3M microfibre cloth.

todd · Jul 29, 2007, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by badsey

I goto Dollar Tree and pay $1 + tax for microfiber cloths. Maybe hard to find = usually by the cleaning stuff/mops etc.

I am too cheap to pay $10-20 for an official 3M microfibre cloth.

Hmm.. I've never been in one of those stores, I'll have to check it out.

Also, the 3M cloths are not the $10-$20 option, they are more like $3-4. $10-20 would be for one of the iKlear micro-chamois cloths.

They also have microfiber cleaning cloths in the automotive section at Target. I picked up a pack of 12 of them, on sale for $4-5.

Steve516 · Aug 3, 2007, 12:50 PM

Any microfiber cloth will work fine. The silky ones for eyeglasses are microfiber and will not scratch the glasses or the iPhone in my experience.

I buy a bundle of microfiber towels at Costco or HomeDepot once in a while, and use them for all sorts of cleaning. I keep one in the desk drawer for the monitor screens.