iPad Pro About the cloth / way of cleaning the NANO screen and regular iPADs

[Branaghan]

I have been using the IPP 10.5 with the naked screen, and since 2017 also a microfiber cloth for electronics, mixed with tap water. The screen doesn't look in any way damaged or scratched.

I have doubts about the pre-OLED iPADs and this new 1 TB NANO screen. One user here said:

It’s also easier to clean than a Nano Texture Studio Display or Pro Display XDR. I accidentally splashed a little water on it and got a dot of soup on it last night while making dinner and it wiped right off. Contrast that with the Studio Display where I sneezed on it and it took me like 30 minutes of careful cleaning to get it back to normal. I suspect this new process is more resilient and they know it, but are being predictably cautious.

I wonder how this NANO screen can be properly cleaned, because it seems the cloth that is also sold separately by Apple says in the instructions we need to moist the cloth with a 70-percent isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution for hard to remove smudges.

And from experience I can tell these will ALWAYS (100% sure) appear over the years, and just using a dry cloth will not help to get rid of them. Yep, the dirt will get stuck to the tablet/smartphone, and the cloth will need to be moisted for the removal. This can't be avoided.

I have one smudge now in my LCD monitor, that needs to be 100% turned off for me to remove it, with the microfiber cloth, moisted.

Polishing Cloth

Made with soft, non-abrasive material, the Polishing Cloth cleans any Apple display, including nano-texture glass, safely and effectively. Buy now.

www.apple.com

How to clean the nano-texture glass on your Apple display - Apple Support

If your Apple Studio Display, Apple Pro Display XDR, iMac, or iPad Pro (M4) has nano-texture glass, follow these important guidelines to prevent damage when cleaning the screen.

support.apple.com

I have seen a video review asking if we need to buy another polishing cloth for NANO over time, since these will also need to be cleaned. It's just a matter of put that polishing cloth into the washing machine and wait for it to come out 100% clean, ready for use again?

One of the reviews mentioned we can use a regular microfiber cloth for electronic devices, but it's unclear to me if this is advised, because if it's not fit to apply on the naked NANO screen, it can damage over time.

I have been applying a microfiber cloth in my IPP 10.5, yet never used anything but tap water. There's also a problem with this idea:

Tap water has impurities, minerals and other things in it that can and will damage a TV panel. Not sure if it does the same with any iPAD, including NANO.

It has been suggested to use distilled water instead, but I don't know where to find it, and even if it's out there, if it's the right one or worth doing it, because it's known by anyone that has a modicum of knowledge about electronics (and that includes tablets/smartphones) that you don't use any sort of CHEMICAL (besides a very small ammount of water) to clean anything.

This will cause permanent damage, unless you are talking about a drop of ph-neutral washing-up liquid when cleaning eyeglasses, mixed with water. That is probably the only exception.

My IPP 10.5 doesn't look bad in any way after all these years, still, I wouldn't trust this NANO screen to last the same with that practice, if it's completely different.

 

[SierraVista]

For all of my non-nano texture screens, I use Whoosh cleaning sprays and microfiber cloths. Never had any issues or damage, it’s what they use in the Apple retail stores to clean the demo devices, though I haven’t found any info on whether this is safe to use with the nano texture screen.

The iPad with nano texture screen, Studio Display with nano texture screen, and Vision Pro all come with a polishing cloth in the box. It’s no different from any other microfiber cloth, the important thing is to not use something like a shirt or paper towel that will leave behind residue or fibers.

 

[triptolemus]

Clean, dry microfiber cloth is all I use. No lotions. No potions.

 

[Branaghan]

Clean, dry microfiber cloth is all I use. No lotions. No potions.

You'll need to dip that cloth in a liquid to remove some sort of dirt stuff that glues to the screen, at some time in the future... I had to do this with LCDs, tablets and smartphones over the years, it's not only dust that sticks to it, a layer of dirt will also form there, from regular use. I never touched my LCD from day #1 until now and this happened to it... multiple times. Probably from insects?

Of course it's idiotic to do more than dip the cleaning cloth. You don't want to put a lot of liquid into it (slightly damp, only), and never drop the liquid first into the screen, directly. Then there's the care of not rubbing hard and doing it gently.

I get Apple's advice about the 70-percent isopropyl alcohol, the thing is, they are also made with 30% water, and using any kind of alcohol always raises the question if it's not doing any harm to the coating:

https://www.reddit.com/r/iPadPro/comments/oefdql

https://www.reddit.com/r/iPadPro/comments/ag5z9j

This comment also caught my attention:

https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1c0zr6s

yes, just don't get it on the screen glass. isopropyl will remove the oleophobic and anti-glare coatings on the screen. i learned this the hard way.

That's a problem, because I don't use any screen protector... all my devices are "naked".

 

[triptolemus]

You'll need to dip that cloth in a liquid to remove some sort of dirt stuff that glues to the screen

Nah.

Unless the device is in the hands of a toddler, perhaps.

 

[F-Stop]

I use a good quality microfibre and a spectacle cleaning spray. If it’s good enough for your glasses it’s good enough for your screens! 🤓

 

[Branaghan]

Nah.

Unless the device is in the hands of a toddler, perhaps.

You are dead wrong about this. You would be surprised how any of these screens over time accumulate sticky-whatever-crap into them (these can be very small), and no matter how many times you apply these clothes (especially if it's on a big TV), it will not budge even if you keep doing it for days. Anyone saying dry clothes can clean 100%, has no idea.

A dry-cloth is useless when this happens, and I think it can even damage it, because you would never do that with eyeglasses. Anyone that did, will later find out (no need for a microscope) that it will scratch the lenses.

For eyeglasses (good lenses are not cheap...), we need to wash with lots of water first (trying to clean with a dry cloth is the worst thing you can do), rub a drop of pH-neutral washing-up liquid between your fingers until suds are formed and then apply this to the lenses.

I take so much care of what I have that despite the screens being naked, I use front/back covers not only for the tablet, also the iPhone. And always bring my microfiber cloth with me.

No need to do this daily, but I had to moist the cloth multiple times over these years to remove smudges that never go away. Being very anal about cleaning my devices, when I look at lots of fingerprints on the iPAD, they drive me crazy. I am also very clean myself, always washing my hands with regular soap more than others, during the day.

No idea if tap water is the devil, all I can say is that it worked so far for everything here. It's hard to trust any chemical to really work in the long run. But, with a different and more sensitive screen (OLED / NANO), this might be different.

Note: Samsung recommends using water for cleaning their TVs: https://www.samsung.com/au/support/tv-audio-video/how-to-clean-tv-screen/

And to prove my point, they say this:

++++++
Tips for removing severe stains
++++++

If the dust and debris on the TV screen cannot be removed with just a soft, dry cloth, try to clean with some water. Then remove the remaining oil and moisture with a dry, microfibre cloth.
++++++

One of my first LCD monitors was permanently damaged when a cleaning alcohol was nearby.

 

[triptolemus]

You are dead wrong about this.

Okay. I've been cleaning my device's screens this way for a decade but whatever you say. I'm dead wrong.

 

[PaperMag]

Clean, dry microfiber cloth is all I use. No lotions. No potions.

The usual dusting of the screen is fine, if you're using a clean microfiber cloth—but for regular consumer displays its more optimal to use distilled water (keep some in a little spray bottle next to your cloth).

Why water?

• Water lubricates the surface so you are minimizing any friction; minimizing any interaction with the material, including antireflective or oleophobic coatings. Lubrication also means the energy you put into rubbing the screen is more efficient and effective—notice how cleaning involves physical force—its not about your elbow but about the physics happening at the material level.
• Water is soluble, so it leaches out (of the material you're cleaning) any dirt and dust particles that are otherwise stuck onto the screen material.

We do not wash dishes with a dry cloth, we use water. Water has been cleaning things for 4.6 billion years—longer if you count other planets and the multiverse.

Why distilled water?

• It is even more soluble than tap or spring water, so even better at picking up contaminants
• Does not contain calcium or magnesium or impurities, so it will not leave any trace amounts on the display surface

If you still see oil-based smudges or bio-matter (cough cough) on the display feel free to use an alcohol-based cleaner meant for screens, or a dab of 70 percent isopropyl alcohol onto the microfiber cloth (Apple approved). But I wouldn't use it daily because it could dry and wear any plastics on the bezel, or the coatings, faster over the years. Weekly should be fine.

Back to dry cloth. Its not so bad a lot of the time—so long as the cloth is newly clean—but eventually its less effective because you're pushing a thin layer of contaminants around that have collected on the screen. This is why detailers and car cleaners use water and sprays and don't simply clean glass windows with a dry microfiber cloth. Many will say the best way to clean glass on a car is to first use a 50% isopropyl alcohol solution on the glass—first to remove a thin layer of grease that collects from the plastic material on the inside (which gases from heat and age) and from road particles that stick to the glass over time.

Yeah this is a novel but people need to learn what to use, and why. Theres a reason why Apple uses cleaning product and not simply a dry cloth. Do you—its a perfectly fine and lazy way to dust a display or remove smudges in a pinch—I too will use a dry microfiber cloth when I'm being quick and lazy—but a detail cleaning requires more.

PS: For anyone cleaning airpods or speaker grills on your devices, use Blu Tack (or other-brand alternatives) to sticky out any gunk that gets into the grill.

 

[geoelectric]

Worth adding that if you dig up the MSDS, Whoosh is 99% water with a small amount of antimicrobials that also act as surfactants (ie they loosen dirt).

As far as I’ve been able to tell from MSDS ingredients, most alcohol/ammonia-free screen cleaners are similar, equivalent to distilled water with a drop or two of hand soap dissolved in it.

Also worth mentioning: when I looked at the Nano in store Saturday, I pulled aside the person cleaning the screens and asked how their store handled the care and how easy it was to clean. They just use a generic microfiber cloth, and it quickly wiped off my fingerprints. It looked dry, but may have been slightly damp.

I think the pack-in cloth is probably optimal for effectiveness, but I don’t think it’s because a different microfiber cloth would damage the surface. They did say that other types of cloth might.

 

[triptolemus]

The usual dusting of the screen is fine, if you're using a clean microfiber cloth—but for regular consumer displays its more optimal to use distilled water (keep some in a little spray bottle next to your cloth).

Why water?

• Water lubricates the surface so you are minimizing any friction; minimizing any interaction with the material, including antireflective or oleophobic coatings. Lubrication also means the energy you put into rubbing the screen is more efficient and effective—notice how cleaning involves physical force—its not about your elbow but about the physics happening at the material level.
• Water is soluble, so it leaches out (of the material you're cleaning) any dirt and dust particles that are otherwise stuck onto the screen material.

We do not wash dishes with a dry cloth, we use water. Water has been cleaning things for 4.6 billion years—longer if you count other planets and the multiverse.

Why distilled water?

• It is even more soluble than tap or spring water, so even better at picking up contaminants
• Does not contain calcium or magnesium or impurities, so it will not leave any trace amounts on the display surface

If you still see oil-based smudges or bio-matter (cough cough) on the display feel free to use an alcohol-based cleaner meant for screens, or a dab of 70 percent isopropyl alcohol onto the microfiber cloth (Apple approved). But I wouldn't use it daily because it could dry and wear any plastics on the bezel, or the coatings, faster over the years. Weekly should be fine.

Back to dry cloth. Its not so bad a lot of the time—so long as the cloth is newly clean—but eventually its less effective because you're pushing a thin layer of contaminants around that have collected on the screen. This is why detailers and car cleaners use water and sprays and don't simply clean glass windows with a dry microfiber cloth. Many will say the best way to clean glass on a car is to first use a 50% isopropyl alcohol solution on the glass—first to remove a thin layer of grease that collects from the plastic material on the inside (which gases from heat and age) and from road particles that stick to the glass over time.

Yeah this is a novel but people need to learn what to use, and why. Theres a reason why Apple uses cleaning product and not simply a dry cloth. Do you—its a perfectly fine and lazy way to dust a display or remove smudges in a pinch—I too will use a dry microfiber cloth when I'm being quick and lazy—but a detail cleaning requires more.

PS: For anyone cleaning airpods or speaker grills on your devices, use Blu Tack (or other-brand alternatives) to sticky out any gunk that gets into the grill.

Can't imagine giving this topic so much thought, but you do you.

I will wipe my iPad off with a dry clean microfiber cloth as needed and move on with life.

 

[PaperMag]

Can't imagine giving this topic so much thought, but you do you.

I will wipe my iPad off with a dry clean microfiber cloth as needed and move on with life.

Sorry to offend you. I have no doubt you'll survive with a dry cloth, but some people care more than you so I explained for their sake. Some of us have cars, TVs, professional displays, and other devices—and we like to take care of them in detail.

 

[PaperMag]

Also worth mentioning: when I looked at the Nano in store Saturday, I pulled aside the person cleaning the screens and asked how their store handled the care and how easy it was to clean. They just use a generic microfiber cloth, and it quickly wiped off my fingerprints.

I think the pack-in cloth is probably optimal for effectiveness, but I don’t think it’s because a different microfiber cloth would damage it. They did say that other types of cloth might.

For Apple's nano-texture displays—Apple implies to use the polishing cloth dry. The super thin fibers are much thinner than normal microfibers, which is why they recommend only use the Apple-branded cloth. One could use a regular microfiber cloth but it will be less effective at physically removing particles caught inside the texture—as you said I don't think damage would occur.

 

[maerz001]

„The super thin fibers are much more expensive than normal microfibers, which is why they recommend only use the Apple-branded cloth.“

Fixed that for you

 

[Branaghan]

Sorry to offend you. I have no doubt you'll survive with a dry cloth, but some people care more than you so I explained for their sake. Some of us have cars, TVs, professional displays, and other devices—and we like to take care of them in detail.

It's not a matter of using a regular microfiber cloth for electronic devices or Apple's expensive one (although it is a fact some of these cloths are worse than others, no question about it - a few for sure will be harmful and rub the screen harder than they should).

The one I use for my regular iPAD is from JPCase (link here).

It's that over time a layer of dirt will get stuck to the screen and using any dry cloth, it will not go away. I have one now in my LCD, it's a small dot that you can see while looking at the screen against some backgrounds. You would be rubbing the dry cloth for the rest of your life and that BLOB glued to it will still be there. In a television screen, there are perhaps dozens of these. In a tablet / smartphone, much less, but they still appear.

Meaning, you can't only use Apple's dry cloth and all will be 100% clean.

I had to moist the cloth to remove them if not monthly, every few months. And that of course raises the question if whatever you are applying (the liquid) is not bad for the coating. For eyeglasses, I would be unable to clean anything with only tap water, without my fingers gently rubbing against the lenses with the pH-neutral soap. Even so, that soap is not 100% the same with different brands. They can put other crap in the ingredient list. After years of cleaning (and within a week, my glasses are always awful), for sure the ZEISS coating that blocks blue light is not as effective.

I would be concerned if these 70% isopropyl alcohol / distiled water solutions are the same all over the world. Always look into what these are made of (and Apple conveniently doesn't tell us more about their expensive polishing cloth).

 

[PaperMag]

It's that over time a layer of dirt will get stuck to the screen and using any dry cloth, it will not go away. I have one now in my LCD, it's a small dot that you can see while looking at the screen against some backgrounds. You would be rubbing the dry cloth for the rest of your life and that BLOB glued to it will still be there. In a television screen, there are perhaps dozens of these. In a tablet / smartphone, much less, but they still appear.

Meaning, you can't only use Apple's dry cloth and all will be 100% clean.

Thats exactly my main thesis here. Water lubricates and is soluble so combining with a microfiber cloth it does excellent cleaning. Alcohol (or soap) is what removes the oil or grease that sticks from fingers or the air (over time) which is why screen cleaners contain some amount of one or the other, not just water; so I will use a lens cleaner or alcohol occasionally for a deep clean to remove all surface contaminants.

But the nano texture is different, and so Apple wants a nano texture customer to use a dry cloth—specifically the Apple Polishing Cloth—because its manufactured with unusually small fibers in a non-woven structure for getting into the micro-cracks of the nano texture. Heres a video showing the magnification. And Apple says if the dry cloth isn't sufficient for getting the gunk out, to use Isopropyl Alcohol (70%). Why they don't recommend water, I don't know, but I speculate because they know people would just use tap water which would leave minerals and impurities stuck inside the crevices, to build up over time. That stuff is easier to wipe away on a normal display but maybe not a nano texture that more collects it—just a guess.

Anyway, will the other person live to see another day when they simply using a dry microfiber cloth to clean their normal display? Of course. They just won't be doing the best cleanse, and it will continue to build little impurities that get stuck on the display, but if they don't care, they don't care.

 

[jb310]

I've used disposable eyeglass cleaning wipes on all my screens over the years, and it's worked out pretty well...though I will say I've not tried it on nano-texture glass.

Usually I can get a box of these for less than $10:

 

[PaperMag]

„The super thin fibers are much more expensive than normal microfibers, which is why they recommend only use the Apple-branded cloth.“

Fixed that for you

Yes! Apple's big plan for increasing sharefolder value is selling expensive microfiber clothes that otherwise have no increase value.

Or you can watch this video where the polishing cloth is put under microscope to show how it is custom made to Apple's unique technical specifications and not simply a white-label rebrand of the same microfiber cloths you and I may pick up for a normal display.

Apple tends to put at least a 30%-50% markup on everything—so lets assume 50% in this case—then it's still a $10 product, not a $1 product. But even if it were a $1 product, thats still 10x the value of a microfiber cloth that costs $0.10 to make.

Its mindless to buy one for no reason when you can simply use a common microfiber cloth, but if you do have a nano texture display, the video proves that its money well spent to buy one.

 

[AllanMarcus]

I just asked at the Apple Store about how to clean the nano-texture iPad and she said any good quality polishing cloth, but don’t use a typical microfiber cloth as the microfibers will get into the nano-texture.

 

[KPOM]

FWIW when I get occasional food splashes (salad dressing, etc) on my nano-screen iPad Pro I have moistened it with my breath and used the Apple microfiber polishing cloth to wipe it off. A month of daily use and my iPad looks brand new.

 

[KPOM]

Yes! Apple's big plan for increasing sharefolder value is selling expensive microfiber clothes that otherwise have no increase value.

Or you can watch this video where the polishing cloth is put under microscope to show how it is custom made to Apple's unique technical specifications and not simply a white-label rebrand of the same microfiber cloths you and I may pick up for a normal display.

Apple tends to put at least a 30%-50% markup on everything—so lets assume 50% in this case—then it's still a $10 product, not a $1 product. But even if it were a $1 product, thats still 10x the value of a microfiber cloth that costs $0.10 to make.

Its mindless to buy one for no reason when you can simply use a common microfiber cloth, but if you do have a nano texture display, the video proves that its money well spent to buy one.

I have an Apple Studio Display, Vision Pro and iPad Pro with nano. All three came with polishing cloths that are different from each other. Should I use only the cloth that came with my device or can I use, say the ASD cloth with my Vision Pro or iPad Pro?

 

[PaperMag]

I have an Apple Studio Display, Vision Pro and iPad Pro with nano. All three came with polishing cloths that are different from each other. Should I use only the cloth that came with my device or can I use, say the ASD cloth with my Vision Pro or iPad Pro?

Are all three displays with nano texture? If so, then I assume all three have the same fiber characteristics that make them interchangeable.

I don't think anything bad happens with normal microfiber, I just think what Apple provides is made to spec to be more effective due to its unique properties. Theres very tiny ridges etched into the glass, which is what makes it diffuse light, but those ridges need small nano fibers to get into them and wipe away dirt and oil—that is why Apple had to make their own cloth.

Whats more important is that you never use non-microfiber because things like paper towel have hard fibers that could scratch the chemical coating on a display. And never use sprays like glass cleaner because it contains ammonia. Just stick to a light spritz of distilled water (on the cloth, never sprayed directly onto electronic devices). And/or read the instructions Apple provided.

 

[maerz001]

It’s about time EU regulates the cloth market

 

[Apple_Robert]

Is the polishing cloth that comes with the M4 iPad Pro the same size as the one that was already available on the Apple website?

 

[SierraVista]

Is the polishing cloth that comes with the M4 iPad Pro the same size as the one that was already available on the Apple website?

No, it's larger and quite a bit softer than the one that Apple sells in the store/online... IMO the one that comes with the iPad is far superior to the existing one.