We’ve got to tell you something you don’t want to hear: Your phone is gross. People who study the stuff have determined that our phones carry more bacteria than a toilet seat. And you don’t walk around with your toilet seat next to your face. So yeah, you’re probably dying to clean your phone now. Here’s how to do it properly.
First, make sure your phone is turned off. Take it out of its case and remove any screen protectors you may have. Your phone screen is touched not only by your oily face when you’re making a call, but by your fingers all day long. You can touch up your touch screen with a special cleaning product or even just a soft microfiber cloth. Make sure to clean in long, single strokes from the top of the screen to the bottom. Don’t make circles because that can create scratches.
For the body of your phone, you can DIY your own cleaning solution for cheap. Using a 60/40 alcohol-to-water mixture (no, not that kind of alcohol), you can wipe away any grime. Just be careful to avoid your touch screen with this because harsh cleaners are no bueno. And dry everything off when you’re done to make sure water doesn’t seep into your phone and ruin everything.
Use Scotch tape to get rid of the fingerprints clogging up your phone’s display. It can also help get gunk out of those nasty places between buttons and keys. For your phone’s camera, take a Q-Tip and dampen it with a small amount of distilled water. (Tap water can do more harm than good.) Make sure to quickly dry the lens with the other side of the Q-tip so water doesn’t dry in a weird pattern on there.
If you’re too lazy to make your own solution, you can also order a Whoosh Screen Shine Kit ($10) that includes a bottle of their non-toxic Screen Shine spray and an antimicrobial microfiber cloth that won’t damage your screen.
Pop the case back on (feel free to clean that however you want, those are hard to damage) and revel in your pristine new phone.
(Photo via Getty)