Cleaning Dirty iMacs

My school just got 7 (count 'em 7!) rev b bondi iMacs donated. Unfortunately, they came from a vet office with lots of hair and dandruff floating around, so, as you can imagine they got very dirty. So, my question is what is the best way to clean these macs and what could be damaged?. I have an air compressor and bottled air and have taken a bunch of (mostly newer) iMacs apart. Thanks for the help!
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.3)

I cleaned my iMac by taking it apart, however working around the CRT can be deadly. CRTs need to be discharged before even coming close to touching them. That said, I didn't use much compressed air because, in many areas, it would have blown the dust further down inside. I used dampened rags and paper towels and a dampened soft paint brush to lift the dust off, only using compressed air when I could blow the debris away from the iMac.
The bottom comes off first, then the front panel, then the back (colored) part.
<http://homepage.mac.com/dreed2/PhotoAlbum52.html>
There are some manuals listed here for Bondi iMacs, but I haven't downloaded them to check them out yet. Gotta get back to work on installing the new kitchen floor.
Good luck with those iMacs.
Message was edited by: dreed2 (forgot to include a link)

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Cleaning the iMac screen

I have a new iMac.
It seems that it has some kind of screen cover , I don't succeed to clean the screen from marks with any product.
Is there a solution please ?
Thanks.

Spit Shine with the "Provided" Micro Fibre Cloth is the best way.
In Detail:
I had my iMac for a few months now (purchased 1qtr 2014) and I have wondered about cleaning the screen for some time. The thing is, I to tried a non-abrasive cleaning product but it did not work. All that did was clean off the dust but left some insanely annoying smudge marks. I wondered for sometime and inquired a far and wide about cleaning the iMac but no one really had an answer that actually worked.
Frustrated, I went back to the original box the product and pulled out the manual but also pulled out a black micro fibre cleaning cloth still sealed inside of the box where the keyboard was. I thought, "sure why not".
I continued to perform a really light strokes with the provided cloth and surprisingly all the smudges and streaks started to disappear. I felt as though I was Kratos killing a Titan or something at this point but beauty is the details.
There were some fine peaces of dirt specs stuck on the screen that the cloth would not get off. I figured I came this far so I wasn't going to give up.
For some odd reason, I thought, "maybe a spit shine D?" . LOL, no not hocking at the monitor, that would be silly but then again ... Anyways, I did dap a little salvia off my tongue, on to my finger, and then directly on those tough spots where specs were, and wiped it away with the micro fibre cloth with ease. This was by far the best way I have ever cleaned the d*am* thing since purchase.

Cleaning an iMac .

Tried cleaning my iMac screen and it's was like a purple gloss looked disgusting I would appreciate if someone can tell me what I can use to fix it and what should I use to clean my iMac screen.

How to Clean Apple Products > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3226

What is the best product to clean an imac screen

does anybody know what is the best product to clean an imac screen?

This is the formal Apple advice.
How to clean Apple products
Do not attempt to use anything other than a slightly damp micro fibre cloth to clean the screen.

How often do u clean your imac?

i just got my new imac and i am really o.c lol when it comes to my stuff. so i just wanted to know how often do u clean your imac to have it in the best condition.also whats the best thing to clean the beautiful screen i usually use ikear with my macbook pro.how about for the aluminum part ? also any must have accessories for the 21.5 imac.?
Message was edited by: go lakers

The "Everything Mac" book that came with my iMac says to clean the display with water only using the cloth that came with the machine or another clean, soft lint-free cloth. An Apple Reseller in this area suggested using a micro-fiber cloth; I have one but haven't tried it yet.

I keep getting offers to clean my imac, Mackeeper its called is it a good idea to use this or not?

Ikeep getting offers to clean my imac, the offer is from mackeeper, one should a person clean the mac, and if so is this the product to use or not.

If it were that good, every-other post here would be recommending it. (None do.)
Instead, it is like online SPAM -- in your face, trying to sell you garbage.
Everything you have to have to keep your Mac working right is already installed at the factory. In certain unusual situations, you may need another program or two. Nothing is needed to clean your Mac -- it does not get filthy.

Cleaning the iMac

Hello!
I'm just curious how often you all dust/clean your iMac? I've noticed that my iMac gets pretty dust (new house), and I was just wondering how often I should be dusting it.
Also, what is the best way to clean dirt off the keyboard keys (wireless keyboard)?
Lastly, is it worth opening up my iMac to clean the dust out of it?
Thanks much!

Hello Hoff81
{quote:}I'm just curious how often you all dust/clean your iMac? I've noticed that my iMac gets pretty dust (new house), and I was just wondering how often I should be dusting it.{quote}
As per page 67 of your User's Guide, slightly dampen the little micro fiber cloth and wipe it off.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/iMac_Mid2010UG.pdf
{quote:}Also, what is the best way to clean dirt off the keyboard keys (wireless keyboard)?{quote}
A dampened soft lint free cloth
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3226
{quote:}Lastly, is it worth opening up my iMac to clean the dust out of it?{quote}
If you periodically shut down (stopping the fans) and vacuum the air intakes (the bottom grill and small vent on the back under the stand) you should not need to open it up for years. The trick is to not touch or disturb any dust that builds up on the grills when the fans are running.
Do not blow air into the intakes, all that will do is blow dust deeper into the iMac.....
I have vacuumed the air intakes on my iMac every three months sense Jan of 2006 and it runs as cool as the day I bought it. I opened it up in Jan of 2009 to upgrade the Hard Drive and there was almost no dust collected on the fans or anywhere on the inside.
Dennis

Clean your imac

What is a good program to run on the imac for cleaning your imac ?.
The imac works with the latest Snow Leopard, and it looks like its slow !

The usual advice on here is to avoid all programs that promise to 'clean your Mac' - they can do more harm than good, occasionally deleting vital system files. The possible exceptions are OnyX and Cocktail which seem to safely run some maintenance processes.
If your Mac is running slowly there is likely another cause. Do you have any anti-virus software running (often a cause of poor performance)?
Sometimes a Safe Boot can help improve performance:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

Software to clean my imac

What is the best software to clean an iMac?
I bought 'MacKeeper' and installed it, and it promptly screwed up my iMac so badly that I had to re-format and reload S/ Leopard from scratch. What a serious waste of money - be warned!
David

Carolyn Samit wrote:
Third party maintenance utilities are unnecessary.
Leave your Mac on one night a month, (not in Sleep mode), and the maintenance tasks will be run for you between 03:15 to 05:30.
Mac OS X: About background maintenance tasks
This advice is also (mostly) unnecessary, on any Mac with Snow Leopard. From the same article linked above:
In Mac OS X v10.6 and later, background maintenance tasks that do not run when the computer is asleep are run after it wakes from sleep mode.
No need to leave the computer on, just sleep it.
Also, it is important to understand that the overnight "maintenance tasks" have very little, if any, actual impact on performance. They do a few things, but they don't really do very much. The more important types of maintenance are fully automatic and out of our hands, such as the way OS X allocates and cleans up disk space (e.g. auto-defragmenting), RAM, and the file system. Those happen constantly.
I've run Macs for many years and under the current OS X there is just about no user-driven maintenance left to do, compared to earlier versions of the system. I have no maintenance software. I used to buy it, but as OS X has advanced, I no longer have to. I have software for when something goes wrong, like advanced disk utilities, but that's not maintenance, that's for recovery.
Why did you feel it was necessary to "clean" the iMac? That's something many Mac users, including myself, never do.
I rarely even clean out caches, and here's why: The entire point of caches is to speed things up by making frequently accessed data more rapidly accessible. By throwing out the caches, you guarantee that the Mac will be slower for a period of time until the caches are fully rebuilt. So I never throw out caches unless there is a problem. Doing it regularly...as "maintenance"...only guarantees that you slow down your Mac on a regular basis.

How to clean dirty keyboard and aluminum around monitor?

Hi all,
I've been happily using my 24 inch aluminum iMac since Christmas. I've noticed that some of my keys on the keyboard are getting dirty (I guess this happens with white keys!) and also the nice band of aluminum at the bottom of my monitor could use some spiffing up. Ideas as to the best thing to use to get things looking new again??
Thanks--

On my keyboard I use a paper towel that has isopropyl alcohol on it and for in-between keys area use a Q tip with isopropyl alcohol. For the monitor and aluminum I mix a little distilled white vinegar and water and dampen a cotton rag lightly and use it for cleaning all my glass surfaces like my iMac, windows, my desk (it's glass) and even my iPhone screen.
Regards,
Roger

Cleaning my iMac screen...

My iMac screen gets very dirty very quickly. What can I use to clean it?

I just use the cleaning cloth that was included with my iMac. Make sure that the computer is shut off. I simply dampen it water and really wring it out good. Then I simply wipe the computer screen off.
My keyboard also gets really dirty from use, mainly on the home keys (where your fingers rest when typing) and I clean this differently as water does not work to peel all the grime off. I unplug the keyboard and then I use a solution of a couple drops of dish washing soap to a quart of water with the same cloth as mentioned above and I gently wipe all the grime off. I then use clear water to rinse the soap off. I make sure that I squeeze almost all the soapy solution out of the cloth and when I rinse I do the same thing.

What is best way/product to clean my iMac screen?

Have moved my iMac to a new location and now can see how incredibly dirty the screen is. Not dusty but spotted as result of food and drink. Ugh! Wondering what is best way/product to clean it with

Section: Desktops
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3226

Cleaning 24" imac screen

i have a 24" imac purchased july '09.
i have used iklear -- product reccommended by apple -- in past and worked ok.
using it on this new screen leaves a small but detectable cloudy haze.
i tried some distilled water on a lint free cloth as well, but no help.
i never spray the screen - i dampen the cloth first and then clean.
final step is gently cleaning screen with a dry cloth.
suggestions?
is windex still a no-no?

Following the instructions in your owners manual.
Regards,
Roger

Do i need to clean my imac?

Hi, I am new to Apple and I have an iMac 27 2.7 GHz intel i5 with 16 gb of RAM and a 1 TB hard drive. Do I need to clean the hard drive and defragment it as I used to with my windows based machines?
It seems to freeze and slow down occasionally and sometimes doesnt shut down.

Under Mac OS X defragmentation doesn't need to be done, as far as i can remember Mac OS X does this to a degree by itself.
when you say 'cleaning', emptying the trash, clearing the browser cache and things like that will speed up your Mac.
Just try to not have too many apps and whatnot open at once and it shouldn't freeze or slow down.
Hope that helps.

How do i delete and clean my iMac so i can give it to my sister?

I need to delete files and clean them so i can give my imac to my sister. want to keep the operting system

These articles and webpages explain how to restore the Mac to it's factory condition before selling of giving away:
What to do before selling or giving away your Mac
Selling your old Mac? Prepare it first - CNET
Preparing an old Mac for sale | Macworld
OT

Cleaning Dirty iMacs

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