In today’s day, we touch or use phones more than anything. Mainly during this COVID-19 lockdown, we use it to stay in touch with our family members, friends, or even to keep in touch with your co-workers for the office work. Most of us have our phones in our hands from the time we wake up and sleep with the phone in our hands. But how often do you clean? Or when was the last time you cleaned it?(1)
Most of us are indeed following the protocols of maintaining physical distance, sanitizing hands, wearing masks, not touching the face, and not going out. We are disinfecting our homes and taking every possible measure that we can so that we do not get infected or spread the infection. But, many sources since the beginning have stated that glass or fiber or metal can carry the coronavirus. Our phone the one which we use every day and the most used item is made up of these materials. So, why are we not cleaning it? The virus can stay on the phone from anywhere between a few hours and up to nine days.
Not only viruses, but the phone can carry a variety of other germs, which may be harmful. Hence, cleaning it from time to time can protect us from coronavirus and other infections as well. Because getting sick in this situation of lockdown or isolation can be a little hard to deal with.
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Cleaning or disinfecting the phone is not the same as sanitizing hands or disinfecting home. Besides, different gadgets are made up of different materials, and sometimes the same method may not be useful in cleaning different types of devices. So, we have to use various cleaning approaches based on the materials.
Apple stated that we could use 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipes or Cholrox wipes to clean their wide-range of phones. Do not use bleach or submerge them in cleaning or other detergents, which can ultimately damage the phone. Avoid getting moisture or liquid in any of the openings as it can damage the phone.
Samsung is offering phone cleaning services in some countries, but it may be challenging to go out during the lockdown. So, cleaning it by yourself is the only option. It was also suggested that UV-C light could also disinfect your phones, but it does not guarantee if it can kill the coronavirus on it. Even if it did, accessing UV-C light machines can be challenging. So, using similar methods to those of Apple products can be helpful.
Do not use pure alcohol or other alcoholic solutions that you use to sanitize or disinfect homes because it can strip off the coatings on your phone screen. Without these screen protections, your phone can be easily damaged with oil or water drops. Below listed are some tips by Apple, which are pretty basic. So, to start off, you can follow these tips to clean or disinfect your phones.
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If you are planning to use rubbing alcohol, you can dilute it in the water and use it to clean the phone. You can also prepare a disinfectant solution by mixing 50% white vinegar with 50% water.
When cleaning a phone, make sure that you wear disposable gloves. Also, wash your hands thoroughly once done if you are at home or out for shopping groceries, text, or share it via message instead of passing the phone to others.
In general, using cleaning solutions directly on the screen may damage the phone. So, before using these tips, you may check the type of material of your phone and if using this solution does any damage to it. Also, you can go to the manufacturer’s website and see if they have any cleaning tips that you can use.
You may use similar methods to clean phone cases. Make sure that you remove the cover and then disinfect or clean it. Also, do not forget to clean the backside of the phone.
[Read: Coronavirus Preventive Measures]
As we all know, phones carry more germs than we all could ever imagine. And we often use our phones while eating or watching TV or even while working. Sometimes when eating snacks, we may use our phone and then even without cleaning it. So, it is essential to keep your phone clean and disinfect it from time to time.