Refresh Screen & Keyboard Kit Promises To Keep Your Mac Squeaky Clean [Review]

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Refresh Complete Screen & Keyboard Cleaning Kit by Techlink
Category: Cleaning Kit
Works With: iMac, MacBook
Price: £19.95 ($33.38)

Chalk it up to the state of modern life if you want — where we’re much more comfortable looking at an iPhone screen than building fires and hunting wild animals — but there’s something undeniably manly about the idea of cleaning your iMac with something called a Screen Cleaning Blade.

Okay, so things get less rugged individualist when you hear that this is a scented, anti-bacterial Screen Cleaning Blade, and still less so when you hear that it features a “vibrant satin finish” — but, hey, at least it’s something, right? Coming packaged with another cleaner designed for your keyboard (the Keyboard Blade?), these two handy gadgets promise to keep your Apple products looking as shiny as the day you first unboxed them.

So do they live up to their word?

What It Is

A set of two UK Apple Store-exclusive products — one designed to clean your screen, the other for your keyboard. Both are pretty much the same design: 40ml cleaning sprays with a replaceable sponge on the front. The keyboard cleaner features a “unique rib-pattern” sponge for a proper deep cleanse, while the screen cleaner includes a gentler anti-microbial cloth.

The Good

Both products are designed for an easy one-handed spray and swipe combo.

Combining cleaning fluid and sponge into one product might not exactly be Steve Jobs’ original iPhone pitch of a phone, an iPod, and an Internet communicator all in one, but it’s pretty nifty all the same.

The cleaning process itself is not only easy, but also high quality — with no smudges (or, worse, scratches) left behind. The relatively low price point, and the fact that you get two additional sponges included per cleaner, additionally count as a positive.

The Bad

It’s one thing spraying liquid onto your iMac or MacBook screen, but it seems another thing entirely to douse your keyboard.

I have to admit here listing this as “bad” without qualification isn’t entirely fair. When I saw the volume of liquid sprayed by the keyboard cleaner (think the equivalent of spit-cleaning) I opted to employ a middleman and prayed the liquid onto a cloth, which I then transferred onto the keyboard to mop up a bit of moisture. Maybe it’s me being paranoid here, but I’m not the only person to reach these conclusions.

There was also the occasional bit of leakage which, while not excessive, surely isn’t an intended part of the design?

The Verdict

A screen and keyboard cleaner is never going to be the most exciting review item to write about, but both are — of course — key to the amount of enjoyment you get from using your Mac. As high quality products, with a nifty two-in-one design that will leave your computer both looking and smelling clean, the Refresh Complete Screen & Keyboard Cleaning Kit comes highly recommended.

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Product Name: Refresh Complete Screen & Keyboard Cleaning Kit
The Good: Functional 2-in-1 design, good cleaning finish.
The Bad: Seems strange to spray directly onto your keyboard. Occasional leakage.
The Verdict: Easily beating water and an old-t-shirt, this Screen & Keyboard Cleaning Kit is a great way to keep your Mac looking spiffy.
Buy from: UK Apple Stores

[rating=good]

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