Last updated: July 2026 — cleaning steps cross-checked against LG’s and Samsung’s current official support instructions.
Quick Answer: Turn the monitor off and unplug it, then wipe the screen with a dry microfiber cloth in one direction using light pressure — that alone removes most dust and fingerprints. For stuck-on grime, lightly dampen the cloth (never spray the screen directly) with distilled water, or a diluted 50/50 isopropyl-alcohol-and-water mix for tough residue, per manufacturer guidance from LG and Samsung. Never use Windex, ammonia, paper towels, or any household glass cleaner — both LG’s and Samsung’s official monitor-care instructions warn these strip the anti-glare coating permanently.
A monitor screen looks like glass but isn’t treated like it. Every modern LCD and OLED panel ships with a thin anti-glare or anti-reflective coating bonded to the surface, and that coating — not the glass under it — is what actually gets damaged by the wrong cleaner. Get the method wrong once with the wrong chemical and the cloudy patch that’s left behind is permanent; no amount of re-cleaning removes it. This guide walks the method LG and Samsung themselves publish for their own monitors, the products that make it easy, and the five household items to keep away from the screen entirely.
The safe method, step by step
| Step | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Power down | Turn off the monitor and unplug it; let it cool if it's been on a while | A dark screen shows dust and smudges more clearly, and a warm panel can streak |
| 2. Dry pass | Wipe the whole screen with a dry microfiber cloth, one direction, light pressure | Per Samsung's instructions, dry wiping alone removes most dust and fingerprint oil |
| 3. Damp pass (if needed) | Lightly dampen the cloth — not the screen — with distilled water | Distilled water leaves no mineral spotting the way tap water can |
| 4. Stubborn residue only | A ~50/50 isopropyl alcohol and distilled water mix, applied to the cloth | Cuts dried food or sticker glue that water alone won't lift; use sparingly |
| 5. Never | Windex, ammonia, vinegar, wax, or any spray applied directly to the panel | Both LG and Samsung name these as coating-damaging in their own support docs |
Why “just use glass cleaner” is bad advice
Regular glass cleaner is formulated for actual glass — a hard, uncoated surface. A monitor screen is not that. Per LG’s official monitor-cleaning instructions, users should “never use various detergents, automotive or industrial gloss enhancers, abrasives, wax, benzene, alcohol, etc.” directly on the screen, and should not spray water on it or wipe it with a dripping-wet cloth. Samsung’s support documentation gives nearly identical guidance for its monitor line: power down, use a clean microfiber cloth, and if a damp pass is needed, use distilled water or — for tougher stains — “a very mild solution made with a drop of dish soap diluted in distilled water,” never a window cleaner, soap, wax, or anything containing alcohol, solvents, or ammonia as a default cleaner.
The coating both companies are protecting is the anti-glare or anti-reflective layer bonded to the panel’s surface. Ammonia and alcohol-based sprays break down that coating with repeated exposure, and once it’s gone in a spot, it doesn’t grow back — you’re left with a permanently duller or hazier patch exactly where you cleaned it. OLED panels are more delicate on this front than LCD: manufacturer guidance generally tolerates an occasional diluted isopropyl wipe but explicitly not as a regular cleaner, since alcohol strips OLED’s anti-reflective and oleophobic layers faster than it does a standard LCD’s coating.
WHOOSH! Screen Shine Pro — Best All-in-One Cleaning Kit
- Alcohol- and ammonia-free formula built specifically for screens — the same category LG and Samsung warn against using household glass cleaner in place of.
- Apple's own retail stores use WHOOSH to clean display units, per the brand's product materials — a decent proxy for "won't strip a coated screen."
- The 14"×14" microfiber cloth is large enough for an ultrawide or 32"+ panel in one continuous pass instead of overlapping strokes.
Restocking cleaning kits for a whole row of office monitors adds up fast on a personal account — a free Amazon Business account unlocks quantity discounts and tax-exempt purchasing for exactly that kind of bulk office order.
MagicFiber Microfiber Cleaning Cloths (6-Pack) — Best Budget Pick
- The dry-wipe step covers most day-to-day dust and fingerprints on its own, per Samsung's own cleaning order — a cloth multipack alone gets most monitors clean most weeks.
- Six cloths means one stays dedicated to the monitor and never picks up grit from wiping down a desk or keyboard, which is what causes fine scratching over time.
- Machine-washable without fabric softener (softener coats the fibers and kills the static pickup that makes microfiber work).
Five things to keep off the screen
- Windex or any ammonia-based glass cleaner. Named explicitly by both LG and Samsung as coating-damaging; it is the single most common way people ruin an otherwise fine monitor.
- Paper towels or tissues. Wood-pulp fibers are abrasive at the microscopic level a coated screen doesn’t tolerate — they leave fine scratches a microfiber cloth never would.
- Straight (undiluted) isopropyl alcohol, sprayed directly on the glass. Spraying wets the bezel seams and can seep past the panel edge; alcohol should go on the cloth, not the screen, and only diluted.
- Vinegar or dish soap at full strength. A single drop of dish soap heavily diluted in distilled water is Samsung’s own fallback for tough stains — anything stronger than that ratio risks a residue film across the panel.
- Circular scrubbing or heavy pressure. LCD and OLED panels sit under a thin flexible layer; hard circular pressure can cause temporary or, on OLED, permanent dark pressure spots. One direction, light pressure, per LG’s instructions.
Cleaning a monitor screen by the numbers
- 50/50. The rough isopropyl-alcohol-to-distilled-water ratio manufacturer guidance tolerates for occasional stubborn-residue cleaning — never applied straight to the glass.
- 2 chemicals named explicitly by both LG’s and Samsung’s own support documentation as things to avoid: ammonia and alcohol-based cleaners, alongside detergents, wax, and solvents generally. Windex and most household glass cleaners contain one or both.
- 1 direction. Both manufacturers specify wiping in a single consistent direction with light pressure rather than scrubbing or circling, to avoid abrading the anti-glare coating.
The bottom line
The safe method is almost boringly simple: power off, dry microfiber wipe first, distilled water on the cloth (never the screen) if that’s not enough, and a diluted alcohol mix only for the toughest residue. What actually matters is what you don’t reach for — Windex, paper towels, and anything ammonia-based are the three most common ways an otherwise healthy monitor ends up with a permanent cloudy patch. A kit like the WHOOSH! Screen Shine Pro removes the guesswork entirely, or a MagicFiber cloth multipack covers the dry-wipe step that handles most cleanings on its own. Already shopping for a new panel instead of maintaining an old one? See our best monitor for eye strain picks, or start from our best OLED monitor guide if a coating this guide just taught you to protect is worth paying up for in the first place.