Old projector screen - how to clean?

[Stuart Mitchell]

Hi all,

I just received an old projector screen, which needs a good clean. It's the old rough surfaced type we used to have in schools etc. The casing is rusty, but the screen itself has obviously been stored in a garage or outbuilding for a long time, as it smells of damp and is a fair bit dirty. I was planning on using some mild soapy water to give it a clean. Does anyone have any other recommendations?

[Paul Adsett]

Hi Stuart,
If it's a rough surface it might be a glass beaded screen. This type of surface has very high gain, it will give you a brilliant picture but only when viewed straight on, brightness falls off very rapidly with viewing angle, plus picture definition suffers compared with a matt white screen. Definately start off with some dishwashing soap which will be very safe to try. If that fails, paint the screen with ultra- white flat latex paint. Also mask it off and paint a sharp flat black border about 1.0 ins wide around the outer edge of the screen. Finally clean the rust off the case and paint it flat black - maybe better to do that first.

[Maurice Leakey]

Not a good idea to try to clean a glass beaded screen. It will certainly damage its delicate surface.
8mm Forum: cleaning advice, glass bead screen, mould (film-tech.com)

[Stuart Mitchell]

Thanks all. I've cleaned the reverse with warm slightly soapy water, and cleaned up the metalwork. It is a glass beaded screen, but the screen itself isn't too bad. It just needs airing to get rid of the damp smell, and for the viewing I'm currently doing it's perfectly adequate. Better than the purple living room wall at any rate!

[Melvin England]

I heard a rumour years ago that the best way to not necessarily clean a screen, but to make the surface whiter if it has started turning a creamy colour, is to lay it down outside, open, face up, in the summer, and the rays from the sun will bleach it white again.

Might be an old wife's tale. Can anyone verify ?