I did some research and found that most cell phones carry 10-18% more bacteria than a toilet seat!! That's not incredibly surprising to me being that most people tote their cell phone and other devices wherever they go, including sitting on that actual toilet seat, but this figure is still, nonetheless, gross. So I thought I'd take some time today to look at how to clean those dirty, germ-covered electronic gadgets.
Before I begin, I want to say that, while I hope you'll follow my advice in cleaning up your gadgets, I also hope that you'll check with your manufacturer's recommended cleaning instructions before getting started. Instructions do vary by product type and manufacturer and you don't want to do anything that may ultimately end up voiding your warranty or destroying your device.
That being said, I made a quick visit over to the Apple website and got some quick cleaning tips for my iPhone and iPad.
The first step is to disconnect the device from all power sources and cables. In other words, take your phone off the charger, unplug the headphones, etc. Then go ahead and turn the device completely off.
Once the device is off, remove it from its protective case.
Use compressed air to clean out any of the ports in the device and blow out the dust from the case.
I've read a lot of cleaning tutorials online that recommend using alcohol wipes to clean electronics, but Apple explicitly warns against this. The alcohol can break down the coating on the screen of the device and cause it to malfunction or no longer work at all. The same holds true for all purpose cleaners, window cleaners, and other cleaning wipes.
My recommendation: 50% distilled water and 50% white vinegar. Using distilled water eliminates the possibility of leaving behind mineral and salt deposits that exist in tap water.
In addition, it's common for folks to use paper towel or other paper products to wipe down their device, but these items, no matter how soft they feel, can leave minute scratches on the screen. It's best to use a microfiber cloth or a lens cleaning cloth. Your device may have even come with one.
Spray the water and vinegar mix onto your cloth and then begin wiping down the device. Get all the stuck on goo off your screen, remove the streaky fingerprints, and wipe off the chocolate spot on the side of your phone from that time you were eating a candy bar and texting your bff at the same time.
If your charging port, power button, or other nook and cranny is really dirty, you could use a barely damp q-tip to get in those small spaces. You could also break a q-tip in half and wrap the end of your damp lens cleaning cloth around it to carefully wipe out the gunk. Whatever you do, be very careful not to get liquid into the phone or device and not to mess with the pins in the charging port.
Use the vinegar solution to wipe down your case as well.
Once you're done, put your device back in it's case and turn the power back on. This pretty much completes the process of cleaning and disinfecting your device, but why stop there?
Take a quick browse through your apps list and delete any apps that are never used. Group like icons together into folders to keep your home screen organized.
Then, go a step further and change up your background image and your color scheme (if that's an option on your device). Maybe even select a new ring tone.
If you're like me, you'll feel like you have a whole new phone or tablet! It's amazing what a little TLC can do for those gadgets we love so much.
It's recommended to wipe down your phone daily, but if this is too cumbersome, try to wipe it down at least once a week. This will keep the germs at bay and keep your device running better over the long haul. I hope you'll "like" this post on my Facebook page when you're all done cleaning that device!
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