1. Find 2-3 rags that don't have any loose strings
2. You'll need Windex or a similar glass cleaner
3. A can of air, you can get it at Staples or any office supply store. If you don't want to bother try to find a paint brush.
4. We use Simple Green for the plastic casing. It cleans without leaving residue.
5. For the really hard stuff like sticker residue, smoke film on the LCD, or stains we use Goo Gone. It's strong enough to remove almost anything without damaging most plastic. I've seen it discolor a few keyboards, so I don't recommend it for keyboard use.

• Ok first start with your keyboard because thats the messy part usually. A combination of canned air and a paint brush works well. Using the paint brush to get between the keys where the canned air can't get something like hair or something stuck. Be careful of the keys they do pop off, that's why you don't want to use a rag with strings hanging off. The strings tend to catch those keys and tear them off. If a key comes off simply stick it where it should go and push down it should pop back on.

• Next carefully soak any sticker residue with Goo Gone, ensuring it doesn't seep into any crack in the plastic of the laptop. Usually about 2 minutes and the residue comes right off.

• Then spray some Simple Green or glass cleaner on a rag, NOT on the laptop. Use the moist rag to wipe down the laptop casing.

• Last spray glass cleaner on a different rag and wipe the screen in a square pattern from corner to corner and then wipe off the middle of the screen back and forth. You can apply some pressure to that LCD without damaging it. That LCD panel is made of 1/8 inch sheet of glass, like an old single pane Window.

• If you are the lucky owner of a laptop owned by a chain smoker you can get that film off the screen by using Goo Gone on the LCD. Use the same method as the glass cleaner. Once you wipe it down it will leave a bit of residue behind. So switch back to glass cleaner for a final wipe down and the film should be gone. The smell that comes out of the fan is a bit trickier and usually requires that the laptop be dismantled.

I hope this guide helps someone out there. This is how we clean thousands of laptops and it's worked well for us. If you're in the market for a clean laptop come visit us. If this guide gave you some knowledge that you didn't already have,  give me a vote, so people know it's a useful guide.