Gone are the days of endless tactile buttons, CD players, and tape drives on your car's dashboard. Cars are more like computers than ever, and many now come with a familiar touchscreen like those we carry in our pockets every day.
Your car's infotainment screen contains everything from the radio and air conditioning to GPS and your backup camera. You'll most likely interact with it at least once per drive, which means there are plenty of opportunities for fingerprints, residue, and damage to be left on the screen, especially if you have kids.
Fortunately, with the right supplies and knowledge, you can keep your screen looking and working its best. Keep reading to learn how.
Understanding Your Car's Touchscreen
If you want to safely clean your car's touchscreen, you need to know how they work so you can avoid interfering with the sensitive process.
Car touchscreens are generally one of two types: capacitive or resistive. Both allow you to interact with the content shown on the LCD screen, but their performance is a bit different.
Capacitive Touchscreens
Capacitive touchscreens are the more modern and frequently used version of a touchscreen. They're capable of multiple points of contact at once, allowing you to use them to zoom into maps or play games that require more than a single press.
Capacitive touchscreens work by responding to the electrical charge in your finger, which is carried to the display by a thin layer of a transparent conductive material like indium tin oxide (ITO) that's on the screen's surface.
Once you touch the screen, the charge tells the device where you're touching so that it can react to your tap, drag, or pinch.
Resistive Touchscreens
Resistive touchscreens are older, less sensitive, and incapable of reading multiple touchpoints at once. Instead of reacting to your finger's electrical charge, they rely on the pressure of your touch to create contact between two conductive surfaces below the film surface. As a result, it takes more pressure to get them to work, and they're less responsive than capacitive touchscreens.
The Importance of a Clean Touch Screen
A clean surface is critical for capacitive touchscreens because they rely on a clear connection between your finger and the ITO surface. If anything gets in the way of this conduction, it can degrade the screen's responsiveness and accuracy.
Layers of dirt, heavy fingerprinting, and screen damage can all impact your touchscreen's performance, which is why proper cleaning is essential.
How to Clean A Car Touchscreen: Step-By-Step
A dirty screen doesn't just make it harder to read your infotainment screen; it can impact performance and even cause damage over time. However, so can improper cleaning.
Here's a guide on cleaning your car's touchscreen.
What You'll Need to Get Started
Before you start cleaning, you'll need:
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A microfiber cloth (or two)
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Screen-safe screen cleaner OR distilled water
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A polishing cloth or additional dry microfiber towel
You can also consider a screen protector to make future cleaning easier.
You also want to be sure you AVOID:
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Acidic solutions
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Household cleaners
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Auto glass cleaner
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Interior cleaner solutions
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Rubbing alcohol
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Paper towels
These supplies can scratch or degrade your screen's surface, which impacts performance.
Steps for Cleaning Your Infotainment Screen
After you've turned your car off, follow these steps to make your screen clean:
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Gently wipe the screen's surface in a small circular motion with your first microfiber cloth to remove fingerprints and get surface-level grime off.
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Spray your second microfiber cloth or the opposite side of your first cloth with your cleaning solution.
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Use the slightly damp cloth to gently wipe away leftover dirt, grime, and debris from the screen.
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Use the second side of your dry cloth, a third microfiber cloth, or a polishing cloth to wipe the leftover cleaning solution away, using circular motions to avoid streaks.
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If you want to use a screen protector, apply it once the clean screen has dried fully to simplify future cleaning and avoid screen damage.
If you have stubborn residue, you can repeat steps three and four until the screen is clean. However, always apply light pressure to avoid causing serious damage.
Hyscreen Kit to The Rescue
Cleaning your touchscreen should be a part of your regular vehicle maintenance. Fortunately, with the right tools, it's both safe and easy.
With the Hyscreen Kit, you don't have to worry about using the wrong supplies and damaging your touch screen. The kit provides you with:
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A safe cleaning solution that's anti-static and anti-bacterial to keep your screen germ and dust-free
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A soft and scratch-free microfiber cloth
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A protective case that makes it easy to store your kit in the car
Plus, the multipurpose kit works for phones, tablets, laptops, and other device screens as well.
Quick Tips for Safely Cleaning A Car's Touchscreen
Keep these tips in mind while cleaning your infotainment screen for the best results:
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Don't spray the screen cleaner directly onto the screen; spray your microfiber cloth first
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Avoid disposable eyeglass cleaning wipes
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Never use harsh chemicals like ammonia or alcohol to clean your screen
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Never use rough materials like beach towels or paper towels to wipe your screen
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Avoid household cleaners
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Use a screen protector after you clean your screen so you don't have to clean the screen directly
Keep Your Touch Screen Clean and Damage-Free
Nobody likes looking at a dirty, fingerprint-covered screen. Proper cleaning doesn't just help it look better; it also helps ensure your screen stays working better for longer.
Modern capacitive touchscreens are sensitive and expensive to replace, so be careful about the supplies you use and how hard you push down. You should always avoid harsh cleaners, abrasive materials, and excess moisture when you clean.
If you want to make upkeep easy, consider the Hyscreen Kit's all-in-one cleaning collection. It's guaranteed to be screen-safe and make all your touch screen and LCD devices look their best.
