How To Clean a Laptop

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Canned air is very effective at moving muck but it may just relocate inside the computer. I start the cleaning process using a household vacuum cleaner (either a large battery powered one or a nozzle on a pipe for a mains powered cleaner). This is particularly good for getting dust off a keyboard and from under the keys rather than blowing the muck further inside.

Getting into a computer to be able to clear the fluff which progressively clogs up the grille in the heatsink can be a challenge. There are some photos illustrating the problem and how that grille can get clogged up in this old post. On some occasions when I have been unable to get inside without risk of breaking something I have made a small hook from a paperclip to go through the grille from the outside and try to pull the bits of fluff out.

I always use a damp cloth for the screen cleaning but my recipe is to use a hint (ie a lot less than a drop) of liquid detergent on the cloth. This helps to shift the dirt and particularly any fingerprints.

John

 

I wrote an article seven years ago on how to cool down a notebook computer, where I did a tear down showing cleaning the individual fan blades with a cotton swab and using a handheld vacuum cleaner. Unfortunately computers have changed quite a bit since then; they've become increasingly more difficult to take apart and service. Some consumer notebooks have omitted user access panels entirely - you have to remove the entire bottom of the notebook to get at the internals. And others like Ultrabooks really can't be disassembled at all.

 

Cotton swab and a handheld vacuum?

Pssshh!

I found my air compressor set to 175psi is more than capable of pushing all the dust out of my Alienware. I don't even need to disassemble it!

 

Getting to the internals is indeed getting harder that it used to be.

I use this instead of canned gas. I used to go through around 10 cans per year cleaning all my electronics, it kind of paid for itself.

 

Problem with that is you will spin the fan at such high speed you will burn out the fan itself and well you know the end results you will have to disassemble it to replace the fan. So unless you block the fan from excessive spinning your process will kill your fan faster then you will remove the dust. So anyone reading this unless you got time and money to have someone repair the fan or yourself disassembling and making sure no screws are lost or parts are broken - one should take note.

 

Just as you said it more complicated but if one should want to keep the laptop operational for the lifespan of the laptop itself should take the time and learn about repair and cleaning of their laptop now-days. All my laptops I got used and then disassembled and cleaned out the dust and fan cover were removed and blades cleaned with a bush and dust can and or air pump but blades locked from spinning to prevent damage from happening. I can say from experience that doing that goes a long way to completely remove all dust build up inside the case or fan to improve air flow and keep components cooler then if I just blew the dust around inside the laptop. I have laptops from 2007 and doing such cleaning they are running just perfectly fine in fact you can feel the heat as it blows it out.

 

With the advent of Windows 8 and the more than occasional touching of the screen that can put greasier smudges on there, I've always used the same cleaner that I use for my eye glasses. If it's good enough for plastic lenses, it's good enough for a computer screen. I've been using that on not only the screen, but my keyboards as well using the Q-Tip between the keys and a soft Bounty paper towel towel around the entire laptop housing. It's formulated to be gentle on fine optics while removing the greasy smudges.

I usually get it from my Optician that makes my glasses, and when I do, I grab a few extras knowing I use it on all my computers.

 

As noted such high pressure has the potential to damage the fan. Short bursts with traditional canned air as I illustrated in the article carries the least risk.

If possible, I put a toothpick in the fan blades prior to using canned air to prevent the blades from spinning.

 

I've drooled for that for couple years now. WHY they don't make it in 220V version

However some ultrabooks are much more simpler to open than other laptops have been. Just remove bottom cover and everything is available. Others... hope you had a quitar pick with you.

 

i have an asus g73 and i clean it once a month or once every two months because the temperature goes up 10-15 degrees in idle if its not cleaned and i usually take it apart and only then blow the heatsink with canned air (with the fans removed), but that doesn't usually work for the dust on the fan blades so i have to use an ear stick to remove all the dust which takes time.
So the question is how does one clean the fan blades ?

 

heres what i do:

1. use canned air for the fans, usb ports, and palmrest area. sams club sells a 3 pack for like 9 or 10 dollars; $3 a can is the most you should ever pay for a 10 ouncer.
2. use lysol wipes on the case and keyboard. gets rid of any grease, leaving a very dry feel on the palmrest and keys. does leave small bits of lint from the fiber on the wipe, but those can easily be wiped or blown away. also, if you decide to use these, be careful not to wipe the screen with these as it may ruin any coating your screen may have.
3. use these fellowes screen wipes for the screen:
Fellowes® - Screen Wipes

ive tried many different methods for cleaning the screen, and i've found these screen wipes most effective.

 

Pretty much like you're doing now; you have to free up the dust if it's caked on and a cotton swab is pretty effective. Rough it up a bit so it covers more surface area and dampen the swab with some isopropyl alcohol. There really isn't an easy way to go about it.

Consider blowing canned air into the notebook more often after you clean it next time e.g. once a week, the dust will have much less chance to get stuck on.

 

I just take out the battery, remove the bottom case, and fire up the vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment. It's worked fine for all of my laptops and computers and does the job in removing all of the easy stuff. For the dust that are caked on my fans, I get a qtip and go over each blade. Time consuming but it works!

 

Another very handy tool to keep on hand is a small, high-quality paint brush (or something similar). I actually use the tiny little brush that came with my old electric razor to brush any debris from the nooks and crevices around the keys, speakers and touchpad.