We wash our hands and use hand sanitiser several times a day, practice social distancing and even wear gloves to avoid spreading germs. You might not be able to count the number of times you have went to the bathroom just to wash your hands, but how many times have you disinfected your phone within the past month or even year? We touch our phones, laptops and other electronic devices even more often than we wash our hands – and often the first thing our clean hands touch is the phone.
1. Use microfiber cloths
Avoid using paper towels as they can create scratches. Microfiber cloths are also better at picking up dust and can be reused. While disinfecting your device, keep the cloth damp, not too wet. A disinfectant containing 70% of alcohol is safe to use, but never use bleach when cleaning an electronic product. Avoid excessive wiping and wash the cloth afterwards!
2. Never spray disinfectant on your device
You easily spray too much, creating a disinfectant puddle and potentially breaking your device as moisture gets inside. Remember that most likely your device isn’t waterproof!
3. Use cotton buds
A microfiber cloth cannot reach everywhere, but cotton buds are smaller. They are handy especially with keyboards, ports, openings and buttons. Cotton buds are great for cleaning a smartwatch too!
4. Remove phone covers
Everyone puts their phone down several times a day: bedside, kitchen, and bathroom tables. If possible, wash your phone cover under the sink with warm water and soap. Don’t keep it attached to your phone while you’re disinfecting it: it’s likely there are germs between the phone and the case.
5. Unplug or remove batteries
Keep this in mind in order to avoid electric shocks. If you are disinfecting your laptop’s keyboard, you won’t accidentally open windows either. Take the batteries of tv remotes off too!
6. Remember accessories
Chargers and earphones are touched often as well. In some cases, you might have a struggle hearing the music from your earphones because there is too much dirt, sweat and earwax in them. Take a few minutes to clean them up before taking them to be fixed!
7. Let your device and its accessories dry
This is to avoid getting moisture into your device. You can use a clean paper towel to dry your phone case, but it’s better to give electronics a few minutes so they can dry on their own.
8. Keep disinfectant wipes with you
As you are on the go, you won’t have the time to disinfect your phone every time you’re washing your hands.
Keep in mind that you can minimise the germs on your phone with certain precautions:
- Keep your phone in your pocket
- Use it only right after washing your hands
- Wash or sanitise your hands after using the phone
- Avoid using your phone in the bathroom
Finally, don’t forget that covid-19 isn’t the only virus. Cleaning up your phone, remotes, laptop and smartwatch every now and then is hygienic and can even make the device function better.
