4 Household Items to Help Clean Your Phone

It's no surprise that grime and grit live on our cellphones. But just how filthy are our beloved mobile devices?

Let’s just say our phones have 18 times more bacteria than a toilet handle, and a quick wipe on your shirt sleeve isn't going to make it go away.

Take some steps to keep your phone clean with items you may already have lying around the house.

Before cleaning, disconnect your phone from any external power source, turn it off, remove the battery (if you can) and seal all port openings with tape to avoid liquid damage. When cleaning, the key is to be gentle.

Your phone manufacturer will probably have its own cleaning tips, but here are four household items that can help beat the germ buildup on your cellphone.

1. Soft, lint-free cloth or microfiber cloth

This type of cleaning cloth may have come with your eyeglasses, phone and other gadgets. Using a cloth will remove oily fingerprints, smudges and more from both the screen and cellphone body. Here's how:

• Dampen the corner of the cloth with a bit of water. Whatever you do, don't apply or spray water directly onto your phone — water and phones don't mix.
• Gently wipe your phone with the cloth up and down the screen.
• Use the dry corner of cloth to remove any excess moisture on your phone.

A word to the wise: Don't use abrasive cloths, towels, paper towels or similar items because they could potentially damage or scratch your phone.

2. Cotton swabs

Say goodbye to the tiny crumbs and dust specs that reside on your phone with cotton swabs. Microfiber cloths are great, but cotton swabs do an even better job of removing the gunk and grime from harder-to-reach areas of your phone.

These also work well for cleaning out the corners of your phone cases and ports. Simply take a cotton swab and brush it over the dirty crevices of your phone.

3. Water and rubbing alcohol

There are a ton of wipes available to disinfect and clean your phone, but if you want to save money, this is a quick alternative.

Note: Apple doesn't recommend using any products with alcohol, ammonia and other cleaning substances. Some people say that when used in small amounts, these products won't noticeably hurt your phone. Try this at your own risk.

• Prepare a mix of 60% water and 40% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, which can be found at your local drugstore.
• Lightly dampen the corner of a soft, lint-free cloth, microfiber cloth or cotton square with the water and alcohol mix. Don’t apply or spray the mix directly onto your phone.
• Gently wipe your phone with the cloth to kill unwanted bacteria.
• Use the dry corner of cloth to remove any excess on your phone.

4. Distilled water and white vinegar

If you don’t want to go down the water and alcohol route, you can use distilled water and white vinegar. Here’s how:

• Prepare a mix of 50% distilled water and 50% white vinegar.
• Lightly dampen the corner of a soft, lint-free cloth or a microfiber cloth with the distilled water and white vinegar mix. Again, don’t apply or spray the mix directly onto your phone.
• Gently wipe your phone with the cloth.
• Use the dry corner of cloth to remove any excess on your phone.