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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > how do you clean your Al powerbook?

how do you clean your Al powerbook?
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jlgrandam
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Mar 16, 2004, 12:55 PM
 
what do you use to remove smudges and fingerprints off of the casing and around keyboard/palmrest area? I am concerned about harming the finish and ruining the lettering on the keyboard by using any solvents. I have been using 70% ethanol but it still leaves visible streaks on the casing.
12.1" Powerbook G4
     
iREZ
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Mar 16, 2004, 01:00 PM
 
warm water
microfiber cloth
dry terry cloth towel
patients

I dip the microfiber cloth in the water and ring it out as much as possible, then I start to slowly go over the spots that need cleaning. After all the problem spots have been cleaned I go over with a dry terry cloth towel to make sure everything is dry. Just dont rub too hard and have lots of patients.
NOW YOU SEE ME! 2.4 MBP and 2.0 MBP (running ubuntu)
     
ibook_steve
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Mar 16, 2004, 02:24 PM
 
Originally posted by iREZ:
warm water
microfiber cloth
dry terry cloth towel
patients

I dip the microfiber cloth in the water and ring it out as much as possible, then I start to slowly go over the spots that need cleaning. After all the problem spots have been cleaned I go over with a dry terry cloth towel to make sure everything is dry. Just dont rub too hard and have lots of patients.
I din't know that you had to be a doctor to clean your Powerbook!



Steve
     
velodev
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Mar 16, 2004, 02:35 PM
 
I couldn't tell you how many times I have contemplated posting this...

Thanks!
     
iREZ
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Mar 16, 2004, 04:18 PM
 
Being a college student and my comp being the biggest investment I've ever made, I cant help but be as careful as possible with it at all times, call me anal retentive all you want but I treat this comp better then I do myself. (wanna get as much as possible when I ebay it in a year or two)
NOW YOU SEE ME! 2.4 MBP and 2.0 MBP (running ubuntu)
     
KidKit
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Mar 16, 2004, 08:45 PM
 
A good general cleaning solution is 50% isopropanol ... good for the whole computer. I remember reading somewhere on this forum (sorry... can't remember the original poster's name) that iClear or something that is available commercially is 50% IPA as well.
     
masugu
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Mar 17, 2004, 01:05 AM
 
I use steel wool and a little ajax.

I am soooo kidding
     
jessejlt
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Mar 17, 2004, 01:09 AM
 
I use Endust wipes.
jesse ;-)
     
yoesh
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Mar 17, 2004, 08:34 AM
 
>I use steel wool and a little ajax.

or some 100 grit sandpaper works well too
     
angelmb
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Mar 17, 2004, 08:57 AM
 
Originally posted by iREZ:
Being a college student and my comp being the biggest investment I've ever made, I cant help but be as careful as possible with it at all times, call me anal retentive all you want but I treat this comp better then I do myself. (wanna get as much as possible when I ebay it in a year or two)

then Steve said: I din't know that you had to be a doctor to clean your Powerbook!
Please do not blame on me cos english is not my natural language, but I think Steve onle reffers to:

"Just dont rub too hard and have lots of patients." Maybe he expected to read patient instead of patients. Just that.

BTW your 'how to' is very accurate, thanks, my Al needs cleaning.
     
Oisín
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Mar 17, 2004, 10:52 AM
 
Originally posted by angelmb:
"Just dont rub too hard and have lots of patients." Maybe he expected to read patient instead of patients.
Maybe even "patience"...
     
iREZ
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Mar 17, 2004, 12:36 PM
 
Damn I'm such a fool, didn't even notice it, I'm sad now, never was I the one to not get a joke right away. Lemme go make a patient of myself with a bullet to the head, HA.
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NYGEO18
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Mar 17, 2004, 05:51 PM
 
Rubbing alcohol and an optical cloth. I use it once a week or so to keep the grime from building up. It works in a single wipe so I dont worry much about removing letters on the keyboard (in other words you dont have to rub the solvent in)
Daily I just wipe the keyboard and palm rests with a dry microfiber cloth. Since I use those silicon screen dots (wildeepz) my screen never touches the keyboard--oil buildup on the keyboard really doenst matter.

But I think water and a soft cloth is fine also. Id stay away from stronger solvents and anything that leaves a residue. Im not sure about ammonia-free glass cleaner...I 'think' its ok for the aluminum surface...I'd probably use it in a pinch.
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msSwitch
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Mar 17, 2004, 06:23 PM
 
I lovingly place my PB in the washer on a "gentle" cycle. I find that using Woolite helps alot also, but no fabric softener. After the rinse cycle is done I place it in my dryer on "low". You could also line dry if you're in a warm climate


Just kidding... puhleeze don't try this at home (our your local laundrymat).
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RealMadrid
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Mar 18, 2004, 05:08 AM
 
Everything already said:

Soft cloth with warm water.
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angelmb
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Mar 18, 2004, 06:23 PM
 
Originally posted by Ois�n:
Maybe even "patience"...
of course, my fault, thanks for your input
     
Boondoggle
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Mar 18, 2004, 06:28 PM
 
what about the screen? I'm scared to death to touch it...
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KidKit
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Mar 19, 2004, 11:50 PM
 
screen has been discussed in an earlier thread... 50% isopropanol or iKlear works great. A non-ammonia eyeglass cleaner and len polish cloth from the local eyeglass shop or optician that costs a couple of bucks also works.
     
Tomster
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Mar 20, 2004, 02:15 AM
 
Originally posted by Boondoggle:
what about the screen? I'm scared to death to touch it...
Don't touch it! In fact, don't stare too hard at it either!

Ever since I picked up a screen saver from www.radtech.us, I've had almost no need to clean the screen. No marks on it from the keyboard since nothing except the screen saver touches it. An occasional wipe with the screen saver and everything's like new.

In terms of cleaning the outside, I use a little 409 sprayed onto a paper towel about once a month or so. That's it for maintenance. On a related note, quite some time ago, I read some one was actually waxing his TiBook with car wax. Anyone try that with the AluBooks?
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NYGEO18
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Mar 21, 2004, 01:43 AM
 
Wax may decrease the heat conduction from the powerbook. Maybe a thin coat of wax wont matter much but i could see it insulating the laptop when it is really designed to radiatde and conduct as much heat as possible.

But all in all it probaly wont matter...but I bet itll shine pretty well!!! And protect from oil and salt corrosion.
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Dr.Michael
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Mar 21, 2004, 07:30 AM
 
Originally posted by Boondoggle:
what about the screen? I'm scared to death to touch it...
I use washing up liquid. Delute ca. 50% with water of course.

It removes grease from the fingerprints without wiping hard. Use an old, clean and very often washed dishtowel, because these are the softest pieces of cloth that can be found.
The towel should only be a little wet of course to make sure no liquid gets into the powerbook.

In general these lcd screens are astonishingly scratch resistent. I tried it out with my dell crapbook@work. You have to wipe very rude to get noticable scratches. (Hey, this proves: there is a use even for dell notebooks :0)

I would be more careful with solvents like alcohol since this can affect the structure of the plastic and make it appear milky.

Michael
( Last edited by Dr.Michael; Mar 22, 2004 at 11:22 AM. )
     
TimBray
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Mar 21, 2004, 05:43 PM
 
Originally posted by jlgrandam:
what do you use to remove
Windex. Works great. When you get a little too much on your touchpad, it gets a little weird but that only lasts a few minutes.
     
danbrew
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Mar 21, 2004, 06:50 PM
 
Ah... I hate to point out the obvious...

I wash my hands and take off clunky watches before using.
     
Authorized Apple Tech
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Mar 21, 2004, 06:59 PM
 
The best thing to use for both the screen and outside is a mixture of:

2 cups warm water
1/2 cup vinegar
3 drops of dishwashing liquid

Clean with a microfiber cloth, or very very very soft paper towel.

Vinegar and water has been used for years to clean glass. The drops of dishwashing liquid gets rid water spots and helps cut the oils.

I use this same mixture to clean the cinema displays in the store. We stopped using the iKlear on the display units because every time we use the iKlear, it left a visible film on the screen. Not too good when trying to show off expensive screens to customers.

I used the RadTech cloths on my Titanium with no luck. I used the cloth from day one and within one year it still got keyboard marks on the screen that wouldn't come off. Although it did prevent it from etching deeper than the protective film covering the PowerBook screen. And it is a good cloth to use to clean the screen. I have an AI PowerBook now and use something a little thicker than the RadTech product to protect my screen
     
Le Flaneur
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Mar 21, 2004, 07:34 PM
 
Originally posted by Authorized Apple Tech:
We stopped using the iKlear on the display units because every time we use the iKlear, it left a visible film on the screen. Not too good when trying to show off expensive screens to customers.
It really does leave a residue, doesn't it?


I used the RadTech cloths on my Titanium with no luck. I used the cloth from day one and within one year it still got keyboard marks on the screen that wouldn't come off. Although it did prevent it from etching deeper than the protective film covering the PowerBook screen. And it is a good cloth to use to clean the screen.
I see the marks as well -- the cloth just isn't thick enough, and stuff in my bag exert pressure on the screen (it's within a sleeve within the Brenthaven, by the way). Actually, I had a few exchanges with RadTech tech support, and they advised me to try wiping the screen vigorously with water and their cloth(see their downloadable instructions), and lo and behold! It worked. But the marks keep coming back, of course.
     
daviejones
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Mar 21, 2004, 09:30 PM
 
i already have a ginormous dent in the side of mine.

hah.
     
phantomo
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Mar 22, 2004, 12:24 AM
 
I use Windex on the case and optical eyeglasses cleaner for the LCD.

Spray cleaning solution on the lint free cotton cleaning cloth and not directly on the PB.
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Dr.Michael
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Mar 22, 2004, 04:14 AM
 
Originally posted by Authorized Apple Tech:

I used the RadTech cloths on my Titanium with no luck. I used the cloth from day one and within one year it still got keyboard marks on the screen that wouldn't come off. Although it did prevent it from etching deeper than the protective film covering the PowerBook screen. And it is a good cloth to use to clean the screen. I have an AI PowerBook now and use something a little thicker than the RadTech product to protect my screen
I think there is no point to spending money for a screen protection.

I used a piece of silk to protect my iBook (blueberry), Pismo, TiBook and now AlBook 12 inch. Not the slightest sign of marks on any of their screens.

The silk is available in any color for a few cents. Looks very noble too.

Michael
     
Dougmc
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Mar 22, 2004, 09:06 AM
 
Although I personally don't suffer from Misophobia, I use those Clorox anti-baterial wipes on the keyboard and chassis of my PowerBook.

For the monitor itself, the few times that I've had to clean a smudge from it I've simply used my screen protector (Acme) which has worked just fine.

I will admit that I get a little Thixophobic about the screen.

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Oisín
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Mar 22, 2004, 02:28 PM
 
Originally posted by Dougmc:
Although I personally don't suffer from Misophobia, I use those Clorox anti-baterial wipes on the keyboard and chassis of my PowerBook.
I will admit that I get a little Thixophobic about the screen.

Perhaps even slightly sesquipedalian?
     
schuss
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Mar 22, 2004, 03:46 PM
 
Originally posted by danbrew:
Ah... I hate to point out the obvious...

I wash my hands and take off clunky watches before using.

YES YES - take off the watch! MUST do.
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M.A.S.
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Mar 23, 2004, 09:02 AM
 
Clean?

when mine gets dirty i just bin it and open a fresh one!

� 17" PowerBook �
     
Oneota
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Apr 8, 2004, 07:23 PM
 
Originally posted by Authorized Apple Tech:

2 cups warm water
1/2 cup vinegar
3 drops of dishwashing liquid
Does it need to be warm? Would lukewarm/cold water work just as well?
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GlobalNomad
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Apr 9, 2004, 08:52 AM
 
my gawd you ppl...

Just use damp papper towel...
I use 1 for the keyboard/case and 1 for the screen.
     
PHYMAC
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Apr 9, 2004, 09:10 AM
 
Just a word of advice.

When cleaning, don't clean your trackpad too much. Last time I cleaned with just some water and a cloth, I really made sure to clean the trackpad, and it didn't work for about 12 hours. It would kind of work and then slowly got better until it was fully back to normal.

I had just figured that, that would be the dirtiest part, so I made sure to clean it thoroughly.
     
TribeLeader
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Apr 13, 2004, 05:00 PM
 
IIRC, the manual says to unplug and remove the battery. Do any of you do that?
     
meatyocre
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Jun 2, 2004, 11:00 PM
 
One iKlear Apple Polish Kit will last the life of a laptop. It is lcd safe, has anti-static properties and it is endorsed by Apple Computers.
     
Mel Dada
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Jun 3, 2004, 12:27 PM
 
I follow the instructions that came with the computer from Apple. a dry damp lint free cloth- and that's it. works well on the screen and the computer casing. for an extra protection i use the tissue like paper that came with the computer so that the keys don't come in contact with the screen when the 'hood' is closed.

peace-mel
     
flypenfly
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Jun 3, 2004, 01:40 PM
 
I wouldn't use regular blue windex. Use Vinegar clear white windex, it works amazing.

Personally I just use urine with two parts water.
     
Slayed
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Jun 3, 2004, 03:16 PM
 
Originally posted by M.A.S.:
Clean?

when mine gets dirty i just bin it and open a fresh one!

I'll give you the address to my bin, no reason to mess up your bin with some dirty old powerbook.
     
   
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