Is There A Best Way To Clean Your iPhone Or Android?

We’ve probably all heard that cell phones and iPads carry a ton of germs on them, like e. coli and viruses.

In fact, a recent study that tested for Staphylococcus aureus by swabbing 30 phones, 30 tablets, and 30 office keyboards and found they all had much higher swab counts than a public restroom. Gross.

Another study, too, discovered that 80 percent of cell phones tested had over 18 times as much harmful bacterium… versus a public restroom handle.

So we need to clean the germs off our phones. But what’s the best way to clean them? I learned the hard way when I tried to clean my Android with a Wet One. It not only left streaks, but also ruined the speaker, so I sounded muffled to callers from then on.

Many a phone store will tell you to stay away from spray cleaners, too, like Windex. Our smartphones have oleophobic coating, a thin layer of material over the screen, and it helps keep fingerprints off the glass. So, as a result, cleaning our phones becomes tricky.

Is there a way to clean them and actually get the germs off? The short answer is… no (even if you check out the Apple site).

Business Insider suggested these three methods, though each has their own flaw(s):

1. Microfiber Cleaning Cloths

Apple suggests that people use Microfiber Cleaning Cloths. But, there’s a problem—they don’t do a thing about bacteria.

2. Isopropyl Alcohol And Water

They say to mix 40 percent isopropyl alcohol with 60 percent water. Then, it’s fine to use the microfiber cloth to clean the back of the phone. A Q-tip can be dipped in the cleaning solution for hard-to-reach or more delicate spots, like the power button. But, you still can’t use the solution on the front of the phone.

3. UV Light

Yes, a “UV light phone sanitizer” will destroy the bacteria on the phone. But, they run about $50-60. Until these get reduced in price, I can’t really see people running out and getting one. Can you?

You can watch the video of Business Insider’s above tips here, as well.

So, what are we supposed to do? Live with our germ-ridden phones? When researching the topic further, I found that Which? suggests buying specially-made phone wipes (and none containing alcohol, which Apple is very against).

Meanwhile, Gazelle recommends:

  1. Hand-washing
  2. UV light
  3. Zagg wipes are antibacterial screen wipes, though Apple says no wipes
  4. An antimicrobial case like NueVue

So, all in all, I think cleaning our smartphones is nearly impossible to rid it of all its germs, unless the UV lights catch on. I think the only thing we can do is have super clean hands at all times, let no one touch our phone, or live without a phone altogether (gasp!).

Health, Home

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About the Author
Natalia Lusinski
In addition to Simplemost, Natalia is an ongoing writer for Bustle (sex, dating, relationships, and money), HelloGiggles (pop culture and news), The Delite (feel-good stories), and Don’t Waste Your Money (yep, money issues!). You can also find her writing in the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune's RedEye, xoJane, Elite Daily, Scary Mommy, Elephant Journal, and Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies, among other publications. She has a Ph.D. in couch-surfing, having spent four years sleeping on over 200 L.A.-area love seats and sectionals, all in an effort to whittle down her student loan debt. She still loves couch-surfing in other cities, too (hint, hint).

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