Health & Wellbeing

How to Clean Your Phone Correctly to Prevent Disease

Natalia J.

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We can hardly imagine life without our smart devices these days. In fact, when it comes to smartphones, we tend to bring these useful devices along with us wherever we go, and most of us browse and use our smartphones dozens of times a day, both indoors and outdoors. Given that our phones come in contact with our hands, face, tables, and other surfaces everywhere we go, could they harbor dangerous germs like the Coronavirus? Scientists say they can, and recommend a specific way of cleaning smartphones and tablets regularly in an attempt to protect yourself from infectious diseases.

Can Germs Survive on Your Phone?

Cleaning Guide to Phones woman using the phone

Our hands come in contact with thousands of germs every day. Everywhere we go, everything we touch exposes us to hundreds of microorganisms, many of which can be pathogenic. Unfortunately, we then use our phone with the same hands, rarely washing them beforehand. In fact, the average user taps their phone screen over 2,000 times a day!

No wonder doctors point out that our mobile devices are an often overlooked source of infection, and some estimates even suggest that the average smartphone is 10 times dirtier than a toilet seat!

Several medical studies confirm that viruses, bacteria, and fungi can easily survive on and spread through your mobile phone or tablet for days. The Coronavirus is no exception, as it was suggested to be able to survive on hard surfaces like plastic from 72 hours up to 9 days depending on different sources, which is more than enough time to be transmitted from person to person.

Cleaning Guide to Phones phone after cleaning dirty

This means that we should pay extra attention to cleaning mobile devices on a regular basis, at least once every day, and especially after using them outdoors or in your car. It is especially crucial to clean your phone after using them in health facilities or after being in contact with a sick person.

How to Clean Your Phone Without Damaging It

While we do know that many germs, including the Coronavirus, die within a minute after being exposed to disinfectant home cleaners that contain bleach or hydrogen peroxide, these are not suitable for cleaning your phone. In cleaning your phone, you’ll have to rely on the third option - isopropyl alcohol at a concentration of at least 70%. Alcohol evaporates very quickly, which means that it will clean your device without damaging the screen and seeping through the seams into the device itself. The same instructions work well for both smartphones and tablets.

Cleaners you can use to wipe down your smartphone include:

70% isopropyl alcohol wipes
Clorox disinfecting wipes or similar
Lint-free cloths sprayed lightly in alcohol.

Related Article: How to Make Hand Sanitizer at Home

Safe Cleaning Instructions

1. Before cleaning, make sure to disconnect your phone from any cables and power sources.

2. Do NOT use bleach, hand sanitizer or any liquid cleaner not intended for use on electronic devices. Even if these products are alcohol-based, such as hand sanitizers, they also have moisturizing properties because they’re intended to be used on skin and could damage your phone.

Cleaning Guide to Phones woman wiping down a phone

Related Article: How to Clean Your Computer

3. Only use lint-free cloths to clean your device: fluffy microfiber cloths, cotton balls, and cotton rounds can damage the device and make cleaning more difficult. In our experience, cloths made to clean glasses work the best.

4. Keep in mind that alcohol only works on hard surfaces, so if your phone has a leather or any soft case, it’s best to avoid cleaning it with alcohol. If you’re in doubt about a certain product or material, we recommend you contact the manufacturer and ask for safe cleaning instructions.

5. Remember! Any amount of moisture can harm your phone, so make sure not to spray alcohol directly onto the screen. Instead, spray a cloth with alcohol to wipe down the phone. The cloth should be slightly damp, but not wet.

Cleaning your phone is easy - gently wipe down the phone, making sure to get all the sides and the edges. We recommend taking off the case and cleaning each part separately, letting both the case and the device itself dry completely before re-assembling. Remember to repeat this at least once a day, as well as after every time you go outside. Stay safe!