How to Clean Your Phone

The pandemic emphasised the importance of cleaning frequently touched surfaces, and your mobile phone is no exception. Especially when we take them with us literally everywhere, and yes even on toilet breaks. Viruses can survive on surfaces for multiple days, therefore it is imperative that you make cleaning your mobile phone and other devices a regular habit. It's not only a good hygiene practice to have, but it can also reduce wear and tear which will help you to sell you phone for more, and it's recommended to clean your phone before sending it to a recycler.

a woman cleaning a phone with a microfiber cloth

How to clean my phone?

Here are the best practices for cleaning your phone:

Before cleaning, unplug your phone to avoid damage to the ports.
Remove your phone case and wash it with hot, soapy water before leaving it to dry completely. Use a specialist cleaner to avoid causing permanent marks if your case is leather or PU leather.
Go around your phone's exterior with a lint-free cloth to remove dust and debris.
Scrape a wooden toothpick into all of your phone ports and speaker holes to remove dust and dirt.
Use a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe or a cloth slightly dampened with hot, soapy water to wipe around the exterior of the phone, paying closer attention to areas around buttons and speaker holes. To limit the chance of water damage, avoid spraying liquid cleaners directly onto the phone and avoid the phone's ports.

Pro tip: Make sure that you do not use Dettol wipes or other brands that are typically left on a surface for a while, as this could damage your phone.

Why should I clean my phone?

In short, your phone is gross! According to research, the average phone user touches their phone nearly 3,000 times a day, while more heavy users are touching it over 5,000 times a day. There was also a study published recently which estimated that mobile phones accumulate a median count of roughly 17,032 bacterial 16S rNA gene copies, which is approximately ten times the amount of bacteria of an average toilet seat.

On top of that, we spoke with Dr Gareth Nye, program leader for BMedSci Medical Science at The University of Cheshire who warned us that our phones are crawling with harmful bacteria:

The kind of bacteria and germs found on your phone depends on the line of work the owner has – healthcare workers, even if not frontline, can be growing a range of bacteria with the most common being Pseudomonas aeruginosa (which can cause severe respiratory or skin infections) and Acinetobacter baumannii (which can lead to meningitis).

Non-healthcare workers still carry bacteria on their phones, with Gram-positive spore bacteria being the most common. These are linked to food poisoning and other GI issues. Almost all phone surfaces will carry the common dangerous bacteria E. coli and faecal streptococci.”

We trust this will suffice to convince you that your phone needs a proper wipe down every now and then.