How to Clean Your Gadgets to Avoid COVID-19 Coronavirus

In the midst of class suspensions, flight cancellations, mall shutdowns, and sudden work-from-home arrangements, everybody is being extra careful with cleanliness. As health officials suggest, practicing proper hygiene like constantly washing your hands is the best defense against COVID-19.

With more people staying home, there are fewer chances of touching public surfaces that could be infected. But we can’t help but go out from time to time for some errands and grocery shopping, right?

Even with our guards up, there might be one thing we’re taking for granted – our phones. We touch it all the time. We hold it against our faces during calls. In public or at home, we place it on surfaces we eat on or lie on. We even bring it in the bathroom sometimes.

Can you imagine how much bacteria is on that thing?
The New York Post says that the average smartphone is 7x dirtier than your own toilet. If you’re not one to regularly disinfect your phone, check out these easy methods to protect your device against COVID-19.

Best Defense Against COVID-19: Soap and Water

You can’t go wrong with the good ol’ soap and water combo. Experts hail the basic habit of thoroughly washing your hands with soap and running water as the most effective to prevent contracting the coronavirus.

It’s the same with phones. Nowadays, most phones are water-resistant. They can survive rain and a quick rinse under the tap. Just be careful of getting the charger port wet!

To wash your phone with soap and water in a safer way, you will need:

• 2 x sponges or cleaning cloth
• 1 x microfiber cloth (or a normal clean cloth)

Steps:

1. Wet a cloth or sponge and apply soap on it
2. Thoroughly squeeze out excess water until it’s only damp
3. Wipe down your phone on all sides, including your phone case (if it’s washable)
4. Take a separate cloth or sponge, wet it, and squeeze until only damp
5. Wipe down your phone again, thoroughly removing soapy residue
6. Use the dry cloth to make sure no moisture is left on your phone and case

Alcohol and Tissue

While you’re out and about, especially before eating, you can opt for an alcohol wipe down. Liquid alcohol sprays are best since they aren’t sticky, but gel sanitizers will do if that’s what you have. This process is easier if you have both wet and dry tissues. If not, either will do.

Steps:

1. Spray a sheet of dry tissue with alcohol. Same goes for wet tissue.
2. Wipe down all sides of your phone and case
3. Use a dry tissue to dry your phone. If you only have wet tissue, let it air dry.
4. If you’re going to place it on a table, spray alcohol on the table and wipe it down before placing your phone on it.
5. Wash your hands before digging into your meal. 

Anti-bacterial Wipes

Disinfecting wipes are very convenient especially when you’re traveling. Simply pull a sheet out and wipe down any surface you’re about to touch – armrests, pull-down tray tables, door handles, train handles, etc. This works for your phone, too.

There are many kinds of disinfectant wipes. You can find generic ones, or name-brand kinds like Lysol and Clorox. You’ll also find medical-grade ones inside pre-packed first aid kits or in the pharmacy or medical supply store. Just remember to wash your hands before eating after you use these. Heavy-duty disinfectants likely have intense components that aren’t safe when ingested.

UV Light Sanitizer

If you have a device that is not water-resistant, then UV light cleaning is your best bet. Gadgets like PhoneSoap uses UV-C light to break apart the DNA of 99.9% of common household germs. All you have to do is plug in the UV sanitizer and leave your phone in the box for 10 minutes. You can even plug it in to charge while the UV-C bulbs do their magic! After, you’ll not only have a clean phone, you’ll also have 10 minutes of phone screen-free focus time.  You can also use this to clean smaller gadgets like earbuds, smartwatches, even your keys! As long as it fits, it can be cleaned.

Liquid-free Roller

For a more portable liquid-free cleaner, you can opt for a product like iRoller. It’s designed to remove smudges, fingerprints, dust, and germs from your device screen. No power required, and you only need to rinse it ever so often for continued use. It fits in your pocket and bag as well – very travel-friendly!

Beat the Coronavirus with Cleanliness

In our world today, mobile devices are like extensions of our hands. That’s why we also need to clean them to prevent contracting and spreading COVID-19 and any other viral illnesses.

Here in the Otcer.ph HQ, we find that having water-resistant devices to be such ease when disinfecting devices. If you’re thinking of trading up your current gadget for something that can be safely cleaned with soap and water, check out our latest iPhones and Samsung Galaxy S10e/S10/S10+.