Believe it or not, your mobile phone does have germs; even more than your toilet sit! We know you don’t want to go viral literally that way, learn in this post how to get your phone clean of nasty bacteria without damaging it.
It’s a fact that people keep on increasing the amount of time they spent on the internet; the 2012 Nielsen Social Media Report, states that the time US users spent on PCs and Smartphones was up 21% from July 2011 to July 2012. And while the computer keeps being the primary device to access Social Media, the same report shows that last year there was a significant increase in usage particularly through tablets. Whether folks connect to update their status or to know what their favorite celebrities are up to, Internet catches up so bad that people are willing to connect anytime, anywhere.
Talking about anywhere, nearly a third (32%) of people aged 18 to 24 use social networking in the bathroom, yes, as you read it. We carry around our communicating gadgets with us everywhere, let’s face it, more than once your phone must have been in the bathroom accompanying you, if not replacing a magazine, at least so you can listen to music while taking a shower (admit it!).
According to an investigation from the Wall Street Journal, eight random mobile phones from a Chicago office tested by HML Labs of Muncie, Ind., were found with high numbers of coliforms bacteria that indicates fecal contamination. Each mobile phone had around 2,700 to 4,200 units of germs, if we compare it to drinking water “the limit is less than 1 unit per 100 ml of water.”
So beware! Because your gadgets can be home of some bacteria like E. Coli, Influenza, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and infectious agents that can cause diseases like pinkeye. They can be hiding in places like your Smartphone screen, or the little keyboard on your phone. Bet that if you get a call on your mobile right now you will not want to answer it.
Since our phone and us are one entity nowadays and we carry it everywhere… to work, while in public transportation, public toilets, to the gym and even to our bed it’s a MUST to start including it in our cleaning routine; as your breath, saliva on a tissue, or rubbing it on your clothe will not disinfect them, here are some solutions on how to clean your device:
- If you don’t want to invest a lot of money purchasing stuff, you can easily clean your keyboards, buttons and solid parts of the phone with a prepared mix of 60% water and 40% of isopropyl alcohol, available in any drugstore, you just need to moisten a microfiber cloth with the mix. For the keyboard parts you can dip the tip of a cotton swab. What’s good about the isopropyl alcohol is that it evaporates quickly and will not damage your device and will surely clean it. However, don’t use this mix on touchscreens; instead you can use a special pre-moistened cleaning wipe for this kind of delicate screens.
- Wireless Wipes. This fast-drying Wireless Wipes are specifically design for cleaning tech gadgets, they are disposable and come in three scents: great tea cucumber, rosemary peppermint, and pomegranate citrus. A single pouch cost only $2.95. You can buy them here.
- UV Light. If you want to go fancy the Ultra Violet Light is one of those high tech products to eliminate funky germs. It pulses UV Light to destroy surface bacteria and claims to kill 99.99% of it in just minutes. On option suggested in a New York Time article is the VIOlight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer, and you can find it here.
- Cyber Clean. This compound will absorb dirt and germs from your device, not only your phone but other devices like keyboards, and computer screens. You can find out more about the product here and purchase it here.
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