How and when to disinfect your phone to avoid the risk of falling ill

Living in the pandemic taught us some good habits like handwashing, covering nose and mouth while coughing and cleaning commonly touched surfaces to avoid the risk of infection. We all made sure that every nook and corner of the house is disinfected and cleaned to precision. But one surface that we all missed was the touch screens of our phones.

On an average, most people check their phones 96 times a day. But the cellphone is not the only thing that you hold or touch with your hands. They come in contact with grocery bags, doorknobs and other surfaces, which might contain thousands of germs and bacteria. Every time you touch your phone with these dirty hands, the germs are transferred to the screen. Even when you hold the phone close to the ears and mouth while talking, different types of pathogens are transferred to it, which can easily make you sick.

It would not be incorrect to say that your phone is one of the dirtiest things you encounter daily. As per 2017 study carried out by the researchers at the University of Arizona, cell phones carried 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats. This happens because most people hardly clean their phones, so germs and bacteria continue to build up and accumulate. It contains germs like E. coli, influenza, and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). So to prevent the risk of infection it is important to clean your phone surface regularly.

For cleaning most of the surfaces, soap and water are considered by far the best and effective way. As you cannot use water on your phone, it is better to go for alcohol wipes. These types of wipes can easily kill most of the germs and bacteria present on the phone surface, but they even have some drawbacks. If the surface of your phone is covered with oil, then it may be difficult to clean the surface properly. The presence of oils or other materials makes it harder for wipes to penetrate to the microbes and remove them from the surface. To ensure that your phone is cleaned nicely, first remove the case and clean both the phone and case with a cotton cloth. Then take an alcohol wipe and clean them with it properly.

It is important to clean your phone multiple times a day. If you are washing your hands nicely then you might have to do it just twice or thrice a day. If you have been around someone who is coughing or sneezing then it is always good to clean your phone.