How to Clean Your Tablet or Smartphone

Posted on 27/11/2023

How Do I Clean My Phone and Tablet?

We all love technology, the tablet and smartphone revolution has put the entire world at our fingertips at all times. But these precious, and often expensive items are in constant use, they rarely leave our side, which can cause them to get incredibly filthy. How do you clean your smartphone or tablet without fear of causing damage to this most essential of personal belongings?

What not to do
Firstly, you need to be aware of what not to do to attempt to clean your smartphone or tablet. Never use household cleaners on your device, many screens have a special coating that will be wiped away if they are brought into contact with chemicals. There are many specialised smartphone and table cleaning sprays and products on the market.

If your phone accidentally gets wet, never use a hairdryer or microwave. People have claimed that a hairdryer can assist with drying a wet phone, but this is very risky for the device.  If your device does get wet, immediately remove the battery if possible, placing the device in a bowl of dry rice has been known to help, but it will not always be the case. The important thing is to remove the battery as early as possible.

The right tools
Don’t use kitchen roll, paper towels or any other tool that could scratch the screen of your device. A micro-fibre cloth is the best choice, as it will remove dust from your screen and device without leaving scratches or smears. If the marks are particularly stubborn, you can dampen the cloth gently but be gentle because pushing too hard can damage the device. You can purchase specialised screen cleaners, but similarly to the sprays mentioned earlier, these can be fairly high in price, a basic micro-fibre cloth will do the same job. You can also make your own tablet and smartphone cleaning solution for a much cheaper price than a specialised cleaning spray. You will need to buy an empty bottle with a spray cap, these can be bought in most pharmacies, DIY stores and supermarkets and will not cost you more than a pound or two.

Once you have your spray bottle, you can mix your solution. All you need for this solution is rubbing alcohol and distilled water. That’s all, this simple solution is as effective as the majority of mobile and tablet cleaning sprays on the market at a fraction of the price. This solution can clean your screen, keyboard and your device in general without taking too much effort. Remember to be very careful when cleaning your screen, do not use too much of this spray as water can be very damaging to your smartphone or tablet and do not push too hard on during cleaning as this can damage your device’s LCD panel.

Maintenance
You cannot avoid the fact that your smartphone or tablet is going to need cleaning on occasion, especially if it spends most of its time in your pocket or bag. However, if you protect your device it will not need cleaning daily. There is a huge market for smartphone and tablet cases, there are thousands of designs, patterns and themes. More than just a style choice, the right case can keep your phone or tablet protected and avoid the need for you to clean your device constantly.

If you use a phone case, it is sensible to put some time aside every week to remove your device from the case and give it a clean. Even in its case dust and dirt will find a way to get to it, but with basic maintenance and regular cleaning, your smartphone or tablet shouldn’t cause you any problems.