Smartphones can be a haven for germs if they are not cleaned regularly as they accumulate a lot of dirt and grime throughout the day. This is especially true if you take your phone to the bathroom in the middle of your business.
With that in mind, we thought it would be a great idea to ask about it Android Authority Readers to see if they actually disinfected their phones. Whether it’s a UV case, a cleaning cloth, or some other method of cleaning the device, here’s how you voted.
Are you disinfecting your phone?
Results
We released the poll on April 13th and it received a little over 1,600 votes at the time of writing. The results show a deep gap between those who clean their phones and those who forego the practice, but there is a winner.
Around 54% of respondents said they had actually disinfected / cleaned their device, with comments pointing to alcohol wipes, microfiber cloths and spray solutions. One downside to using some alcohol solutions (i.e. 70% isopropyl alcohol) is that they can gradually remove your phone’s oleophobic coating. This means you can expect a lot of fingerprints on your screen with this coating removed completely.
Just over 45% of voters say they don’t clean or disinfect their phones, which leads to a large proportion of the readers surveyed. Comments suggest that regular hand washing and the aforementioned fear of removing the oleophobic coating are reasons to avoid this practice.
Remarks
- meh …: No, because I want my phone to have an oleophobic coating on the screen.
- Alcohol swabs when I come home from outside.
- This second: I use alcohol swabs several times a week to clean my phone. People don’t know that cell phones and cash (“dirty money”) are full of bad bacteria.
- Ozzie Khoo: I wipe my screen with a microfiber cloth at least every 2 days or more when it’s dirtier than normal. I also mainly wipe my suitcase because oils get on the suitcase by hand over time. Does that count?
- CJ Brown: I remove and clean the phone case, then carefully dust the front (I use a screen protector). There are ways to sanitize your phone without using a liquid or foam.
- Walter Kowalski: Yes, and I use 70% alcohol wipes from the icloth brand. They do a good job of keeping my pixel 4xl clean.
- Tony’s Texas Hots: I was given credit for other Samsung devices as part of my last phone purchase. I chose the UV disinfectant because it was interesting and different from anything I own. I am actually not convinced of it does Anything but charging my phone, but I feel better and it’s a decent device.
Thank you for voting on this poll and for leaving comments! Are you looking for tips on how to clean your phone? Then you can read our guide here.