You might call a dusty computer screen an eyesore, but you probably wouldn’t think that it could actually lead to sore eyes. Well, think again.

How a Dirty Computer Screen Literally Hurts Your Eyes

A survey from Bausch + Lomb revealed that 65% of people suffer digital eye strain when using their devices. So it’s safe to say that it’s happened to you. But what’s really causing it?

Spending hours in front of a screen certainly does it. Yet still, there’s another cause of eye strain that’s staring you right in the face: the dust on your screens.

Not only does it look terrible, it can also lead to computer eye strain.

So the next time someone says “dude, you need to wipe your screen,” don’t brush them off. Brush the dirt off your screen instead. You might do your eyes a favour by taking their advice.

How a Dusty Screen Causes Digital Eye Strain

An excess of dust affects your eyes directly and indirectly. The particles affect you when they get in your eyes and also by reducing your screen’s sharpness.

A Tiny Dust Storm

All screens create electrical charges. Positive and negative charges act like magnets, pulling dust (and other particles) onto their surfaces. But the dust doesn’t always settle.

Particles with the same charge push each other away. For example, positively-charged screen dust pushes floating dust with the same charge away from the screen.

The result is an invisible stream of particles floating towards your eyes. When they land on your eye’s surface, they’ll feel dry and sore. The knee-jerk reaction of rubbing them or squinting only aggravates them more.

What a Contrast!

Too much dust affects you indirectly as well. A layer of dust on a screen affects its sharpness and contrast. This fools you into thinking the screen looks darker than it really is.

Some people will manually adjust the brightness, but many will just squint more and lean closer to the screen.

A Vicious Cycle - The Whole Body Effects of Digital Eye Strain

Remember, your body works as a unit. When your eyes work harder than they need to, you subconsciously lock yourself into a really bad posture.

As we said above, dry or blurry eyes lead people to lean closer to their screens. Picture the Hunchback of Notre Dame. They round their backs, stretch their necks and hang their heads in what’s known as a forward head posture.

Do this day in and day out and you create a “muscle memory” for your brain. In other words, you’ll naturally lock into a hunchback posture without even trying, and it will take time and effort to undo this habit. Not cool.

And even if you don’t fall into the habit, you could still develop some other troubling symptoms:

• Blurred vision
• Double vision
• Headaches
• Neck, shoulder and/or back pain
• Red eyes

Screen Cleaner: An Indirect Yet Effect Eye Strain Treatment

So now you know that a dusty screen is no joke. It goes without saying that the best thing you can do for your screen is to keep it clean, and that’s where WHOOSH! comes in.

No, we won’t wipe your screen for you. However, we do have a fantastic screen cleaner that’ll remove debris off of your screen with ease.

This bad boy packs a one-two cleaning punch: it removes dirt and protects screen surfaces at the same time.

WHOOSH! Screen Shine coats the screen with a nano-thin layer that resists fine particles. Your screen will, therefore, repel more grime on its own in the future, meaning it won’t get as dirty as fast.

Let it Shine, Let it Shine - A Screen Cleaner Routine to Try

1. Turn your screen off to see dust and debris (doing so also prevents damage to your screen)
2. Spray Screen Shine on a cloth, preferably a microfibre one (ie. our Microfibre cloth)
3. Take microfibre cloth and gently wipe your screen’s surface to remove dust particles
4. Use the dry side of your microfiber cloth to clean and shine your screen.

And that’s that. There’s no need to do any vigorous scrubbing or use harsh soap products (that do more harm than good!). Our Screen Shine screen cleaner and microfibre cloths do the hard work for you.

How to Avoid Digital Eye Strain 101

In general, you should practice some basic techniques to reduce eye strain. The following tips and “exercises” can prevent irritation, especially if you spend hours in front of a screen. Here are 10 quick Tips for Avoiding Computer Eye Strain:

• Use a screen cleaner!
• Follow the 20-20-20 rule. Take a break every 20 minutes, for 20 seconds, looking at something 20 feet away.
• Sit with an upright posture
• Adjust the brightness
• Make sure your working area is well-lit
• Get your eyes checked! Vision problems make eye strain worse.
• Increase the font size if necessary
• Change your monitor’s refresh rate
• Blink more often (but don’t overdo it or you might creep people out)
• Put an anti-glare covering on your screen

Protect Your Screen...And Your Eyes

Your eyes deal with an onslaught of irritants on a daily basis. Unfortunately, dust particles fall into that category as well. That’s why it’s in your best interest to keep your computer screen as clean as possible.

WHOOSH! Screen Shine® removes dust and gunk with minimal effort. Best of all, it causes no damage and protects screens from excess dirt, dust and debris.

A regular habit of cleaning your screen will help you reduce eye strain, even if it happens subtly. And of course, you won’t have to hear your friends or coworkers nag you about how dirty your monitor looks.