Sprayed isopropyl alcohol directly on the screen once

[BornOrca]

Hi as the title suggests I was an idiot and sprayed it directly onto the screen, I wiped it away instantly and I only sprayed it once.

Fortunately when I switched my monitor back on I noticed no water damage. Could've this done any long term damage to my monitor and cause a stain later or am I in the clear?

I know I'm an idiot I should've checked online earlier

[Juular]

Spraying isopropyl / ethanol is fine, it evaporates very quickly and as long as you didn't literally drown a display with it, no damage would occur. Just try to use a solution (70-90%), not pure alcohol, and of course just water or other stuff like a acetone, vinegar or ammonium (and solutions containing them like window cleaning agents) are off limits.

[HyperPalBuddy]

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure your in the clear. it should just evaporate and cause no damage

[BornOrca]

Just now, Juular said:

Spraying isopropyl / ethanol is fine, it evaporates very quickly and as long as you didn't literally drown a display with it, no damage would occur. Just try to use a solution, not pure alcohol, and of course just water or other stuff like a acetone or ammonium (and it's solutions like window cleaning agents) are off limits.

ok great. I literally sprayed it onto the screen once and wiped instantly whilst it was off, and realised I shouldn't really spray directly on the screen lol. Usually I just use a tiny bit of tap water on a microfibre cloth but I wanted to try something different as it causes streaks. 

[BornOrca]

Just now, HyperPalBuddy said:

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure your in the clear. it should just evaporate and cause no damage

Ok great, pretty sure its the 99% stuff so that's good news.

[Dedayog]

I routinely spray cleaners directly on my monitor screen to clean them.  As well as my TV's.

 

Isopropyl, even the 70% stuff is perfectly fine.

[tkitch]

Fun fact:

If you take a large glass full of 90% (or higher) isopropyl, and throw in an electronic device and leave it?

Nothing bad will happen, as long as there is no electricity involved.  (AKA No batteries)

 

Just always let it dry before use.  

[Master Disaster]

12 minutes ago, Juular said:

Spraying isopropyl / ethanol is fine, it evaporates very quickly and as long as you didn't literally drown a display with it, no damage would occur. Just try to use a solution (70-90%), not pure alcohol, and of course just water or other stuff like a acetone, vinegar or ammonium (and solutions containing them like window cleaning agents) are off limits.

As long as the device wasn't powered on, bathing it in alcohol wouldn't hurt it. In actuality most mass produced PCBs are given a very thorough wash in IPA multiple times during the process. Its important to remove flux from the PCB when a robot is doing SMD soldering, even a small smudge can throw the robot off and result in misaligned components.

[BornOrca]

1 minute ago, Master Disaster said:

As long as the device wasn't powered on, bathing it in alcohol wouldn't hurt it. In actuality most mass produced PCBs are given a very thorough wash in IPA multiple times during the process. Its important to remove flux from the PCB when a robot is doing SMD soldering, even a small smudge can throw the robot off and result in misaligned components.

oh really? I heard before online that alcohol can damage that plastic coating on the monitor screen, tbh that could be people scaremongering you into buying useless stuff you dont need XD.

Cheers for the advice

[Master Disaster]

4 minutes ago, BornOrca said:

oh really? I heard before online that alcohol can damage that plastic coating on the monitor screen, tbh that could be people scaremongering you into buying useless stuff you dont need XD.

Cheers for the advice

That part is correct, strong alcohol can indeed damage some types of plastics (damage isn't really correct, it more makes them brittle and easier to damage in other ways) but its not going to happen when cleaning the display once a month. It takes months/years of constant applications before you get a problem.

[TetraSky]

4 hours ago, BornOrca said:

oh really? I heard before online that alcohol can damage that plastic coating on the monitor screen, tbh that could be people scaremongering you into buying useless stuff you dont need XD.

Cheers for the advice

Yes, that can happen and I'm honestly surprised no one mentioned it yet before you did.

Alcohol can, and will, damage the coating on a screen. Especially if it has some sort of anti-glare coating on it since that's basically just sprayed on and not built-into the plastic (like with the various coatings you can have on prescription glasses).
That is, if it's a matte screen and not one covered with glass. There's a reason why TVs usually come with a warning that says "do not use alcohol or ammonia for cleaning".

If the display is glass covered, like your phone, there's zero issue.

If it's not, wiping it off right away without letting it sit on it for too long is ok, don't do it again. You can use alcohol, if it's further diluted. Not "pure" 99% or 70%. Drop to 50% alcohol or even lower like 25% by adding water.
Or just don't use alcohol and only use nothing but plain water, which is more than enough for screen, just a dab (wring it out) on a microfiber cloth and wipe the smudges off.

If they doesn't come off because you're some sort of monster who keeps touching the screen with greasy fingers, adding a single drop of Dawn dish soap in like, 500ml of water, should be plenty as well.

[SolarNova]

its not damaging to electronics however it is to certain plastics. Avoid using it one screen surfaces.