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I've had this bottle of Monster Screen Cleaner for 5 years now... the last time I've used it was a few months ago. It's starting to have a weird smell to it. I don't see an expiry date on it so I'm not sure.
Just wondering what would happen if the chemicals in it go bad and I continue to use it on non-glass screens.
Jack
Posted 2012-07-08T06:53:12.463
Reputation: 2 411
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It is very possible for the chemicals to break down or otherwise react with each other to produce chemicals that are less effective or, potentially, more harmful than the original solution.
Many complex chemicals break down into simpler compounds over time and this is often accelerated by exposure to heat or sunlight. Depending on the mixture of chemicals they may well even react to form chemicals that were not originally intended.
This is much more to do with chemical decomposition than computing though.
There may still be enough of the original solution to not affect the performance of the cleaner significantly and I would expect that companies are required to use solutions that are unlikely to have by-products that are harmful to people so chances are you are safe.
But yes, cleaners can "go bad" over time. It may not make it useless though, but we cannot say whether it will now be harmful to plastics or your monitor, though chances are reasonable that it will not.
Mokubai
Posted 2012-07-08T06:53:12.463
Reputation: 64 434
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You shouldn't use Monster brand screen cleaner or similar products on anything but small mobile screens. For LED/LCD monitors and big screens use 1 part distilled water and 1 part distilled white vinegar. Put it in a spray bottle and spray it a good soft cleaning cloth, never spray directly on screen. Clean as usual. The water/vinegar mix is better then anything you can buy.
Frank Black
Posted 2012-07-08T06:53:12.463
Reputation: 29
Was there really a need to close it and neg me?? It's a legit question and there weren't going to be many more replies. It is just insulting to do this. Although I do appreciate your answer. – Jack – 2012-07-13T05:46:35.487
I didn't down vote your question, but I felt the question was more about chemistry than computing hence my close vote. It's nothing personal. – Mokubai – 2012-07-13T06:22:20.943
Well ok, I wasn't actually asking about the chemical composition of screen cleaner or why it goes bad. I don't care about that. I just want to know if it does and if there will be negative effects from using it. I figured it was a question related to computer/eletronics (displays) maintenance. If I asked for example how to clean out the dust from my computer (like use a vacuum cleaner or an air compressor), would that be off topic? Or maybe if I asked whether 99% alcohol or thermal paste remover is better for cleaning thermal paste. If so, where would I ask such questions? – Jack – 2012-07-14T07:13:55.350
To me those kind of questions sound on-topic, though I would search the site before posting as the sound like the kind of thing that might have already been asked. Feel free to stop by chat if you want to discuss whether or not it might be closed or just general chat.
– Mokubai – 2012-07-14T07:19:48.883Of course such basic questions would have been answered many times before either on here or just a simple google search. But my point is that they are questions related to computer hardware or maintenance. Obviously I have searched this site and googled first and have not found a suitable answer which is why I asked. Perhaps my web searching skills are not very good. If you, Mike Fitzpatrick, RedGrittyBrick, Diogo, or studiohack can refer/point me to another more "appropriate" site or web search with a suitable answer then by all means please do. If you have the time. Thanks. – Jack – 2012-07-15T09:13:02.730
It doesn't really matter now since you have kindly answered my question. But I've seen these types of situations many many times on stackexchange sites where a few power users are trigger happy and just close things they don't like. Sometimes even trolling, ridiculing, and mocking the poster (a certain power user on SO with 160k+ rep has a favourite phrase "cool story bro"). – Jack – 2012-07-15T09:18:43.147
I'm in chat at the moment if you would like to talk. The two other questions you listed are on-topic here: How do I clean dust from a computer? and What chemical should I use for removing thermal paste?. You are in the right place for those sort of questions. On SU at least we (I) are not trying to belittle you, we're just trying to keep the dupe and OT questions down.
– Mokubai – 2012-07-15T09:20:54.370Just to give you an idea of the logic at work my reasons for closing this question were twofold. The first was that what actually happens to screen cleaner is a chemistry question, and one that is incredibly difficult to answer in simple terms. We do not know what chemicals will be produced by the ageing process of the cleaner and it is off-topic on this site. My second reason was that your other question of can this damage your screens is unanswerable without knowing the chemistry question. Your question is very much on the borderline of being off-topic. I can't easily suggest where to go. – Mokubai – 2012-07-15T09:42:09.093
If you would like to discuss it further then please do join us in chat where a number of mods and regular users hang out or consider opening a question on [meta].
– Mokubai – 2012-07-15T09:46:00.150