Want some advice? Don’t spend too much money on screen protectors. Here’s why:

It all began with a portable Nintendo DS game system. I was looking for a screen protector for it. Looked on eBay, looked on Froogle.com, etc. I couldn’t find one that was reasonably priced, and since I have an original DS instead of the “Lite” version, could barely even find one at all.

So a couple of weeks pass. I’m in Wal-Mart looking around in the craft section because I like to browse, and I wander over to the fabric area. I see rolls of clear stuff. I go look closer and find out they are clear vinyl rolls. I start messing with them and try to figure out what they would be good for. They say they’re for covering patio furniture and the like, but as I stare at them something “dings” in my head.

“Screen Protectors!” I shout. People looked at me weird. The lady that runs fabrics looked like she might call security. So after assuring her I was completely sane, I told her why I got so excited. She got excited too because she had a DS. This time I had to reassure the customers around us that the fabric lady was quite sane. However, I decided not to tell them why we were so excited as this might have caused a relapse that would have spread.

So, that’s how I found the stuff. It’s the second thinnest clear vinyl covering they carry. One is paper thin. You don’t want that. You want the next one.

Now, I know you may be wondering what this has to do with “Screen Protectors for Life,” well, I’ll tell ya: Screen protectors for any device run from $10 to $30. This stuff is able to be custom fit1. But the really great part, an entire YARD of this stuff only cost me $1.77. Yeah, you read that right: $1.77. And I have enough to probably cover all the portable devices in the city. So, I’m figuring I’m not gonna run out of this stuff until portable devices are installed in your brain and screen protectors aren’t needed anymore.

Oh, this stuff goes on without any glue, liquids, etc. Just press to the screen and rub it with something until it looks good. You could put a tiny drop of water underneath it to make it look even better, but I don’t. I’m fine with it the way it is.

Quick Recap

For cheap screen protectors:

  1. Go to a Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, etc.
  2. Buy some clear vinyl. Not the paper thin stuff, but the next thickest one.
  3. Measure the screen you want to protect (great for cell phones too).
  4. Measure the vinyl.
  5. Cut the vinyl.
  6. Clean your screen carefully and completely.
  7. Place vinyl on screen (Add a drop of water under it to make it look nicer if ya want).
  8. Rub until the air bubbles are gone and it looks nice and clear.

That’s it. You’re done. Enjoy.

This material can actually be used for crafts too. Multiple uses. Go figure. Oh! Oh! What if you attach some to your refrigerator and then use a write-on-wipe-off marker? Or, what if you cover one of your walls with a large piece of it and let the kids paint it with t-shirt paint? It could be rolled up and stored after everyone gets a good look. Hmmm… Let’s see… what else is there? *walks off talking to himself about more ideas for clear vinyl*2

  1. measure, cut, place [↩]
  2. The *something between the asterisks* method of typing is usually used in Internet chat as a way of portraying an action the writer is taking. [↩]