A few years ago, HGTV started a trend of making a big deal out of people immersing themselves in the actual process of cleaning their living room. But something seems to have gone terribly wrong: Some people seem to think a big change in flooring makes a big difference in the performance of your TV.
So. I happen to know (and know full well) that the floor that I clean has zero impact on anything in the room, particularly my television. Oh, it may get cleaner, I may notice some marks under the sofa at night, but what could I do? I could take the carpet from under the sofa under vacuum-cleaner? Nope, now it’s laid half-down. So if it ain’t the carpet, what could possibly be holding up a TV? Well, according to David MacQueen, a program manager at Sony, that’s a huge mistake.
MacQueen, whose job focuses on consumer projects, advises that if you want to do your TV’s surface clean but don’t have a professional like a carpet or floor cleaner, it’s a bit of a waste of time and money. “I’ve been into TVs for a long time,” he told HuffPo, “and I’ve not found a television that would resist maintenance more than an actual clean – they all cling to dirt very well.”
So let’s start with the easy ones. Clean out the box of dirty television coils. To determine which particular coils to attack, MacQueen suggests simply using some duct tape and maybe a rubber band. “It’s better for TV makers,” he laughed, “because a rubber band can stick to expensive components.”
No matter how many parts you replace, it’s pretty simple. Just take the TV off its rack, close up the packing boxes you use, and lower your vacuum into the slots. It can even be good practice to spend a few days with a vacuum pre-installed in the cabinet, just to make sure it’s working.
You can also add a little dust from the ceiling, because no matter how good your vacuuming, dust can still get in there. Buy a bit of plastic sheeting, and leave it where you can stick it to the ceiling to create a pocket of dust under the TV or monitor. If you’re having trouble getting your vacuum to work, you might even consider buying a larger vacuum in that spot.