Here are some lessons you might learn from my experience.
Initially, the nail polish remover wipes seemed to work fine, effectively removing fingerprint and food stains.
The lesson here is that non-isopropyl alcohol cleanerseven when combined with IPAwill discolor your Mac.
Appleand Dicky Algofari/Shutterstock
I used a nail polish remover because its label said it didn’t have acetone.
However, most nail polish removers contain this compound, which is highly volatile and will discolor your Mac.
Nail polish remover is just one of thoseproducts you should never use to clean your machine.
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I was wrong, and the worst happened.
Another Mac had bitten the dust thanks to my negligence.
When I take a break between work sessions, my work desk pretty much serves as a dining table.
Dreamchild Obari/MakeUseOf
Micro-scratches may not be noticeable initially, but they become more obvious as you add more.
Your Mac’s screen is especially sensitive to this, and repeated cleaning will remove its anti-reflective andoleophobic coating.
This compromises the display quality and reduces your Mac’s resale value.
Dreamchild Obari/MakeUseOf
The second problem is lint.
Apple specifies “lint-free” when describing what micro-fiber is best for cleaning a Mac.
Paper towels and tissue papers are abrasive and leave small fibers (lint) wherever they touch.
The result is that your Mac doesn’t end up looking clean afterward.
Doing this can also compound under your keyboards over time and dampen your typing experience.
Unfortunately, it didn’t remove the stain without leaving some scratches on the Mac’s surface first.
In short, avoid any hard-bristled brushtoothbrush or not.
Anything else might lodge debris deeper into crevices or even eject their own fibers.
However, these are the items I will surely avoid from personal experience.
