What Should I Use to Clean My Smartphone?

It’s the question every scared smartphone user asks. “What should I use to clean my smartphone?” You don’t want to damage that expensive piece of equipment. So you’re very careful about how you treat it. Here are some tips for cleaning your smartphone.

Supplies

You can clean your smartphone using a set of very simple supplies.

• Distilled or purified drinking water
• Cotton swabs
• A lint free cloth (preferably 100% cotton)

If obtaining distilled water is a problem, just use regular tap water. You could also boil a pot of water, wait for it to cool, then use that.

Should I use alcohol?

Many of the tutorials I’ve read on the web instruct people to use rubbing alcohol to clean their electronics. I disagree with this suggestion. While alcohol can be used directly on many electronic components, it can damage certain types of plastics and rubbers as well as the oleophobic (oil repellent) coating of your touch screen. It’s also flammable. I generally see no benefit to use alcohol over water when cleaning the outside shell of a phone made of glass and plastic. I also can’t find a single manufacturer that suggests using alcohol to clean their device. I recommend that you stick to water, but if you insist alcohol does a better job for you, dip into your first aid kit and have at it!

Process

1. Power your smartphone off and pull the battery from the unit if possible. If you’re using a case, completely remove it.

2. Lightly dampen the cloth with water, then gently scrub every area of the phone. If you have sticky or gunky dirt on your phone, you may want to use warm water. Personally, I’ve warmed up some purified drinking water in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

3. For the areas you can’t get into with a cloth, use a cotton swab. Lightly dip the swab into water and start cleaning every nook and cranny. Scrub deep in between keys on the keyboard and along ridges. Try not to get moisture inside any openings or slots though.

4. Allow the phone to air dry until it’s free of moisture. This is very important because if any water is around when you power your device back on, it may create a short and permanently damage your smartphone.

With these steps, you’re well on your way to enjoying a squeaky clean smartphone. Do you have any tips for cleaning your smartphone? Feel free to share them in the Comments section.