When you take a second to think about it, it’s almost impossible to keep track of how often you touch your phone on a daily basis. As a result, they’re often considered one of the dirtiest items that we own and, as such, it’s important that they are regularly cleaned.
How and Why Does Your Phone Screen Get Dirty?
As of 2018, according to an Ofcom report, in the UK we now check our smartphones every 12 minutes of the day on average. With that in mind, it’s an inevitability that thousands of bacteria will transfer from your hands onto the device itself.
In most instances, the bacteria found on your phone are likely to be harmless, however on occasion through testing, serious bacterial strains, and viruses such as influenza have been found – so keeping your screen clean is more important than you might think. Although you’ll never spot bacteria with the naked eye, smudges or fingerprints are extremely visible and just as good of a reason to need to clean your phone screen.
What Not to Use
Now you know that your phone screen should be cleaned more regularly, it’s important to be aware of what not to use.
Abrasive Cleaners
First things first, you should avoid the use of any abrasive cleaner. When it comes to cleaning your phone screen, being gentle is key. Household cleaners you have lying around may be good for surfaces, floors, etc, however, these are not suitable for your phone screen. You should completely avoid aerosol sprays, window cleaners and hydrogen peroxide.
Rubbing Alcohol
Rubbing alcohol can wear away your phone screen’s protective coating, making it more prone to scratches. This should be avoided at all costs.
Compressed Air
You may think that compressed air sounds like a good idea to push away dirt and bacteria from your phone - this is not the case. If anything, it can cause bacteria to be pushed further into any crevices of your device, therefore should be avoided. Apple themselves explicitly state that compressed air should not be used.
Paper Towels
You should also steer clear of using paper towels and kitchen roll, etc – these can also be too abrasive for your phone screen and leave behind small bits of paper, effectively not actually cleaning your screen.
What to Use
When it comes to general screen care and maintenance, there are a few options that you will most likely already have freely available to you.
Soft Microfibre Cloth
A lint-free microfibre cloth will be designed to easily take hold of any dust and bacteria through its small fibres. Softly rubbing your device's screen with a soft cloth will clean it up, while also not causing any damage.
Alcohol Wipes
Using an alcohol-based wipe would present a more efficient cleaning solution. The safest option when it comes to these is a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe, with which you’d easily be able to rub away any marks, fingerprints, dust etc. However, using any harsher alcohol-based wipes may cause damage to your phone screen's oleophobic coating, so you should ensure that you stick with the recommended 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes.
Cotton Buds
Cotton buds present a perfect solution for getting into any smaller nooks around your phone’s screen and/or cover to remove dirt or dust.
TORRO Screen/Lens Cleaning Kits
The TORRO Screen/Lens Cleaning Kit is the ultimate kit for keeping your screen clean. Our Screen Cleaner Set features a 25ml spray suitable for all iPhone, iPad, Galaxy, Laptop, MacBook screens, classes and more, as well as a uniquely formulated microfibre cloth. Simply spray the screen and then wipe with your microfibre cloth and your screen will be as good as new.
The fabric composition of the cleaning cloth has been specifically designed to remove grease, grime and fingerprints. Leaving a polished finish without causing the micro scratches left by conventional cloths.
If you want to take it one step further, the TORRO Screen/Lens Cleaning and Leather Care Kit takes it one step further to help keep your device screen and case clean. Featuring a leather cleaner, leather restorer, screen cleaner spray and 2 microfibre cloths, you will be hard-pressed to find a solution more suited to keeping your phone clean.
