Apple products are characterized by using high-end materials and finishes, such as aluminum alloys, glass, steel, or even the recent titanium. There are many questions raised by the fact of cleaning a Mac, especially in portable models and their screen.
In today’s article we will see how to perform a correct cleaning on a Mac. As a former Apple technician, I will give you all the tricks to leave your Mac impeccable and the way in which its finishes maintain the best possible condition over time.
Let’s start with the materials we will need, and then see how to use them and in what parts. We will differentiate it based on the different possible models, since some are more complex than others.
What do I need to clean my Mac?
To clean our Mac We will not need special materials or products. You can forget and leave aside compounds that are already prepared to clean electronic products. From my experience and after having used several of them None has given me results superior to those we will see below.. In fact, in the case of some products it has even been counterproductive and I have subsequently had to end up cleaning with the correct methods.
Isopropyl alcohol
This product will be our common factor throughout the cleaning. Its main characteristic, both its own and acquired if we use it together with another product, will be the rapid evaporation and the non-conductivity of electricity.
Glass cleaner
For a very specific use and never used directlywe will need it to leave our new screen as if we had just bought our Mac. There are many brands of this product, in principle, since we will use it in a diluted form It is not something that we have to take into account. The only one that We will have to check that it does not have special additives or waxes.
Chamois or glasses cleaner
We will need it for being a product designed to clean without scratching or leaving particles. There is nothing worse than cleaning with something that does not leave a spot wherever it goes. Also, although to a certain extent, We would use the typical chamois that comes with screen protectors when you buy them new. Of course, in any case no cloth that is excessively worn or dirty.
Microfiber cloth
It is important that when using this product it is completely clean and has not been used to clean anything else. No reusing the cloth to clean the furniture in the house. This cloth must be unique and exclusive for your electronic devices, Otherwise it will stop cleaning properly.
Kitchen paper
Its absorbent properties will achieve enhance the evaporation of products to avoid the typical scratches that may remain, as happens to us on a mirror, for example. It is important that we use one that is as soft as possible, although if we do it carefully it is not really relevant. What yes We will not be able to use toilet paper under any circumstances.. This leaves a large amount of particles, and can even break when wet.
How to clean your Mac like an Apple technician
In this section we will separate the possibilities we have depending on the type of Mac we have, since There is one that is especially delicate and requires some more specific instructions. to leave a perfect finish. We will start from simplest to most complex.
How to clean a Mac mini, Mac Pro or Mac Studio
These are the easier to clean models. Not having keyboards, screens or components that are more susceptible to getting dirty from use makes it really simple and fast.
To clean the case of our Mac mini, Mac Pro or Mac Studio It will be enough to simply use the microfiber cloth that we mentioned in the previous section. We will use it dry if possiblealthough in case you need to wet the cloth for some type of stain other than dust We will use a little alcohol on the cloth. This will remove any stains or specific dirt that we have on the Mac case.
How to clean an iMac
This device will be the intermediate point of difficultysince we have a screen that has been susceptible to having a finger mark.
We’ll start cleaning the rest of the iMac first, before finishing with the screen. In the same way that we continue in the Mac mini and Mac Studio, We will use the microfiber cloth dry, if possible. If, on the other hand, we need to remove something specific, we will also use a little alcohol on the cloth to later clean that specific stain with it. If we need to clean the foot of the iMac we can use a spray of glass cleaner, always away from the rest of the iMac. We can use it on the microfiber cloth at this point.
To proceed with the screen we will need either an additional container or we can have the glass cleaner dispenser. We will mix a combination of 70% alcohol and 30% glass cleaner. It doesn’t need to be very specific, you won’t need to measure it either, you can do it by eye without a problem. Actually this mixture will work practically the same in 60% – 40% or 80% – 20% of the respective products.
Once we have the mixture ready we will carry out a two-step cleaning. In the first we will spray a generous amount of the resulting product and then clean it with the microfiber cloth, removing the dirtiest things from the screen. We don’t need to wait for it to dryit is simply a general cleaning.
In the second step, we will apply aa much smaller amount of producta couple of sprays will be enough, maybe three if the screen is very large, but it should be light, and In no case should there be enough for it to drain. If this happens it is because we have sprayed too much. You will end up getting the point eventually.
After spraying We will use the kitchen paper to gently wipe it across the screen. This should already be clean, what we are looking for with this It is not cleaning it, but leaving it without traces No marks from having been wiped previously. While we gently pass the paper we will also blow gently. This will accelerate the alcohol evaporation process, leaving the screen spotless in its wake, and free of marks from general cleaning.
How to clean a MacBook
To clean the MacBook, We will start with the keyboard and trackpad. We will use the microfiber cloth with a few sprays of the mixture we made in the cleaning step on an iMac. It is important that we do not spray it directly on the keyboardit will always be through the cloth. We will clean with him without fear, although be careful that the cloth does not catch on any key. We won’t worry about the MacBook getting wet, the alcohol in our mixture will make this non-hazardous.
Once we have the keyboard clean, we will go to the screen. We will follow a process similar to that used in the iMacalthough with some different points that are important to follow.
To clean the screen properly, First of all we will do a general cleaningwe can do this by directly spraying a single spray of our mixture, Here it is important that it does not fall downwards. It is better to do it several times, if necessary. What we are looking for at this point is to remove fingerprints and dry splashes that may be present, we only want to remove the most noticeable. We will take care of the final finish in the next step.
When we have our screen without the most noticeable dirt, we will move on to the second step to leave a perfect finish. We will clean with a single spray and gently with kitchen paper. We will blow gently to dry it while we do it, just as we did in the case of the iMac.
As a difference compared to the iMac, here we will have to be quicksince the compound of the MacBook screen is glossy and if the product dries without removing it with the paper, it can leave a mark and it would not be perfect. You may have to repeat this step several times the first few times until you get the point and it is spotless.
Once this second step is completed and With the screen very clean we will do a third step. We will use the glasses cloth to remove any particles or dust that may be suspended during the completion of the previous process. We will also use it to specifically clean the corners of the screen that may have been more inaccessible with kitchen paper, especially the lower ones.
We will finish by closing the lid of our MacBook to finish the exterior cleaning of the casing simply dry, as in the rest of the cases to clean the aluminum. Again, If necessary, we will use isopropyl alcohol on the microfiber cloth to specifically clean any specific stains.
MacBooks are devices that They are especially susceptible to getting dirty on the outside as wellhere if it is really necessary we can resort to spraying our mixture to remove a more widespread stain, or clean the device in general.
As a last note, since lThe new MacBooks have the Apple logo in a mirror finishknow that the best way to leave it impeccable is with the chamoisor failing that with a little paper with our mixture pulverized into it.
We leave you to continue your reading about cleaning Apple products, with an article about another product that raises many doubts regarding its cleanliness.
