Is alcohol a screen killer? Countless mobile phones have been killed!

Review expert: Zhu Guangsi, member of Beijing Science Writers Association

Question! Do you have a screen protector or a phone case on your phone? In order to pursue the ultimate user experience, many mobile phone users now give up using a phone case or a tempered glass screen protector. Although this does improve the feel of the phone, over time, the phone, especially the screen, will always be covered with dense fingerprints, solidified grease, and black dust. There are also countless invisible bacteria attached to it. There are so many that even toilet lids are cleaner than mobile phone screens. Just thinking about it makes people's scalp numb.

Source: CCTV News

In order to avoid this situation, many people will use medical alcohol to clean their mobile phones. As the screen with the most interactions, it is naturally the object of special care. So can alcohol be used to clean the screen? What are the precautions for cleaning the screen?

1

It is not recommended to wipe the screen with alcohol

Using alcohol to wipe the screen has a long history, but at least in the first few years of smartphones (even now), the main way for users to clean their phone screens, especially Chinese users, is to use alcohol to wipe the screen. However, as more and more incidents of alcohol damaging the screens of electronic devices occur, countless "naked" users begin to hate the act of using alcohol to wipe the screen. After major mobile phone manufacturers have issued mobile phone maintenance manuals, which recommend not to use irritating liquids to wipe the screens of mobile phones as much as possible, many people are convinced that alcohol will damage the screens of electronic devices. However, many people also say that they have been using alcohol to wipe the screens for a long time, so how come nothing happened? This starts with the screen structure of current mobile phones. The screen structure of current mobile phones generally adopts a classic sandwich structure, with the bottom inner screen, the outer screen outside, and a layer of coating on the surface that is chemically coated, also known as an oleophobic film. The main component of this coating is perfluoropolyether, which has various excellent properties. It not only ensures a silky feel when used by users, but also has excellent hydrophobicity and oleophobicity, which can effectively prevent fingerprint residue and oil pollution. At the same time, its chemical properties are very stable. Except for some active metals and liquid ammonia, it is basically difficult to react with various substances that we come into contact with in our daily lives, such as alcohol, oil, etc. , so it can be said to be very reliable.

Source: pixabay
Why do mobile phone manufacturers still not recommend that we use alcohol to clean the screen? This is related to our usage habits. Although perfluoropolyether has excellent stability, it is difficult to withstand the friction of our fingers day after day. If you don’t put a tempered film on your phone, the coating will fall off after using the phone for a long time. Without the oleophobic film , it is difficult for ordinary external screens to effectively resist the invasion of various stains. At the same time, due to the problem of manufacturing process, it is generally difficult to completely seal the side of the mobile phone . If alcohol accidentally penetrates from the edge, it will also cause damage to the screen.

2

The dangers of alcohol on screens

I believe that you have also seen many incidents of screen smearing caused by wiping the screen with alcohol on the Internet, but if we observe carefully, we will find a detail, that is, most of the devices that are scratched are computers, among which Apple's MacBook is the most affected. In order to ensure its own image presentation effect, the MacBook screen uses an AR coating. Due to the different requirements and standards of different OEM manufacturers, this coating has a small probability of quality problems, resulting in failure to achieve the expected effect, and therefore cannot effectively resist the erosion of alcohol. Once alcohol reacts with the AR coating, it will damage its optical properties, resulting in the phenomenon of "screen smearing" . For other computer equipment, if the sealing of the edge of the screen is not done well, alcohol may also damage the internal optical coating after penetration. For mobile phone screens, if the oleophobic layer is not completely detached and exposed to a large amount of alcohol, or alcohol penetrates from the edge of the screen, there will generally be no problem.

3

Can I use alcohol to clean the screen?

Let me first state the conclusion. You can use alcohol to wipe the screen, but you have to pay attention to the method. In fact, many electronic equipment manufacturers use alcohol to disinfect and clean their screens. Alcohol itself should not be blamed for damaging the screen. First of all, it should be made clear that compared to alcohol, the physical friction between our fingers, napkins, etc. and the screen when we use our mobile phones in daily life actually causes greater damage to the screen . In addition, when cleaning electronic screens, many people will spray alcohol on the screen with a spray bottle, and then wipe it with napkins or cotton cloth. The hidden dangers of this are that spraying alcohol is likely to cause alcohol to penetrate from the edge of the screen. Secondly, the surface of napkins and cotton cloth is actually relatively rough. Frequent use of them to wipe the screen will accelerate the shedding of the coating.

Source: Shopping website
4

The correct way to wipe the screen

Here is a quick and easy way to test the oleophobic layer on your phone screen. Tilt the phone and drop a little water on the screen. If the water drops slide off quickly without leaving any traces, it means the oleophobic layer is in good condition . If the water drops spread out immediately and become water stains, or if they do not slide off completely, it means the oleophobic layer has almost fallen off. The correct way to clean the screen is to use a smooth lint-free cloth or glasses cloth, dip it in clean water, wring it out, and gently wipe off the fingerprints and oil on the screen surface. If you want a more thorough cleaning and sterilization, you can also spray alcohol or other detergents on the lint-free cloth, wring it out, and wipe it gently. Try not to use rough objects such as napkins, and be careful not to use too many times. In addition, for non-contact screens, such as laptops or TV screens, if you don't understand the surface coating material, you should try to avoid using alcohol and other irritating solvents for cleaning.