Is It Okay To Use Dish Soap To Clean Your TV Screen?

TVs have come a long way in recent decades. What once seemed like a luxury — a big screen television — is now common in many living rooms. In fact, what was considered "big screen" 15 years ago is a normal-sized TV today. But of course, those screens need regular cleaning. Large LCD displays are fingerprint magnets, especially if you have kids, and you've probably had to wipe yours down before. Perhaps a particularly stubborn smudge left you wondering if using dish soap would work.

The good news is that yes, it's generally okay to use dish soap to clean your TV screen. However, you should first decide if you really need to. Televisions usually attract no more than dust and fingerprints. For that, a microfiber cleaning cloth (perhaps dampened with some water) should suffice. However, a mild dish soap solution can be useful for the rare instance where your TV has a stuck-on mess that a regular wipe-down can't clean.

When cleaning your television display, try wiping it down first with a dry microfiber cloth. If that doesn't work, dampen the cloth with water and try again. This should usually be all you need to remove fingerprints or other small smudges. For stubborn messes, dish soap can work, but there's an important caveat: Dish soap can be pretty strong, so you need to dilute it heavily before using it to wipe down your TV's display. The LCD displays on today's televisions differ from the glass screens on older box TVs. Modern TV displays usually have a glass layer, but the outermost panel is plastic treated with an anti-glare coating. Not diluting the dish soap first is one of the biggest mistakes you can make while cleaning your TV. At best, it'll leave streaks. At worst, it can damage the anti-glare coating or the display's outer layer. The last thing you want when cleaning your screen is to ruin your expensive TV!

Mix only a small amount of dish soap and water in a spray bottle, spray it directly onto a soft cleaning cloth (do not spray it directly onto the TV), and gently wipe the screen clean without applying too much pressure to the LCD panel. Only apply the highly diluted dish soap solution to your cleaning cloth for stubborn messes. Proper cleaning is an easy way to extend your TV's lifespan and get the most enjoyment out of that big, beautiful screen.