If you’ve noticed your laptop running hotter, noisier, or slower than usual, you might be wondering if cleaning it could help. The short answer is: yes, cleaning it can improve performance. But how exactly does dust affect your laptop, and how much of a difference does cleaning make to improve laptop performance? Let’s take a closer look.
Over time, laptops—and pretty much any electronic device with active cooling (fans)—accumulate dust inside their cooling systems. These fans are responsible for keeping your laptop cool. In doing so, they act like tiny vacuum cleaners. They pull in dust, crumbs, and hair—especially if you have pets—reducing their cooling efficiency. When the fans can’t cool the components properly, your laptop may throttle its performance to avoid overheating. This can result in slower speeds, stuttering, and even unexpected shutdowns during resource-heavy tasks. Keeping your laptop clean is crucial for maintaining optimal performance.
The extent of dust build-up depends largely on your environment. A dusty laptop doesn’t necessarily mean your house is dirty—although that can contribute. For instance, using your laptop on a duvet or blanket will cause it to collect more dust and fibres compared to using it on a table. If you have pets, their fur is also likely to end up inside.
The following images illustrate the amount of dust that can accumulate inside a laptop, impacting its performance.
As shown in the images above, the collected dust and hair has formed a thick, almost carpet-like layer that blocks air from circulating efficiently, hindering performance.
To see how cleaning affects performance, we ran a series of tests both before and after cleaning this laptop. We measured CPU and GPU temperatures, CPU package power, and CPU frequency to assess how cleaning can improve laptop performance.
The test setup:
CPU temperature remained near 100°C before and after cleaning, with no significant change in peak temperature. While minor variations may exist, they don’t represent a substantial change. This is consistent with the laptop’s thermal throttling mechanism, which limits temperatures around 100°C.
As shown in the power draw graph, the CPU consistently drew more power after cleaning. This indicates the CPU could maintain higher performance for longer periods before thermal throttling becomes a limiting factor.
The CPU core clock speeds show a clear improvement after cleaning. Before (red line), the frequency ranged from about 3140 MHz to 3660 MHz. Afterward (yellow line), it stabilised between about 4240 MHz and 4390 MHz. This increase of roughly 730 MHz to 1250 MHz indicates a notable performance gain. The more consistent frequency suggests reduced thermal throttling, leading to smoother, improved laptop performance.
In our experience, cleaning your laptop can definitely improve performance. While the difference may not be night and day, lower temperatures and reduced fan noise can lead to a more stable and pleasant user experience. If your laptop is running hot, the fans are loud, or you’re noticing performance issues, checking for dust build-up is a smart move. Cleaning your laptop can be a great way of improving performance.
If you’re comfortable opening up your laptop, you can absolutely do this yourself. Some laptops are easier to clean than others, and there are plenty of guides online to help you.
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