Not Once A Day, Not Once A Week: Here's How Often To Clean Your Phone's Screen

Your smartphone is certainly a marvel of technology, providing you immediate aid in everything you do, while still fitting in your pocket. It's no longer something you use just to make calls, and for most people, it's not rare to bring it everywhere you go. This, unfortunately, includes places that are not the most sterile, such as public transport, restaurants, and even the toilet.

Just like how you should keep all your other electronics clean, taking proper care of your phone is important as well. How often you should clean your phone screen depends on how often you go out, your screen time, and your daily routine. If you're someone who isn't on your phone a whole lot and don't normally use it in public, you can get away with sanitizing your phone once a week. If you regularly take your phone out in places with a large amount of people or take calls in typically unhygienic places like the toilet; you should be cleaning it at least once every day, or after every time you bring it to such a place.

There is a distinction to be made between simply cleaning your phone screen and properly disinfecting it. You should be cleaning it daily with a dry or damp cloth simply to get rid of skin oils, dust, and grime. Disinfecting your phone, on the other hand, means properly getting rid of the bacteria that's stuck to its screen. This can get more complicated, and isn't as important to do every day.

For normal cleaning, using a dry microfiber cloth can often be enough. When dealing with stubborn smudges or when disinfecting it, dampen the cloth with diluted isopropyl alcohol (usually with a 50-70% concentration) and gently rub it across the screen. You can use any other soft material instead of a microfiber cloth, such as a wet tissue or cotton, to wipe the screen as well. Alternatively, you may also use cleaning wipes that have ethyl alcohol instead, although they're not as recommended due to their longer drying time.

Being clean is important, but do you really need to disinfect your phone daily? Not exactly. On the contrary, if you're using store-bought cleaning agents or ethanol, extensive deep cleaning multiple times a day is more likely to cause abrasions. It's recommended to disinfect your phone right after you use it in a non-hygienic place. This can be after you take a call in public, look up recipes in the kitchen, or simply use your phone while on the toilet. Cleaning your phone screen before taking it to a clean place is often all you need to do to stay germ-free. Even if you take precautions and don't bring it to any unclean place, you should still be disinfecting it at least once or twice a week; there's just no need to do it every single day.

Smartphones are delicate, and using the wrong method and materials when cleaning them can end up with more harm than help, especially if you make a habit of deep cleaning your phone each day. Some things to keep an eye out for include strong chemicals like hydrogen peroxide, bleach, ammonia, and even alcohol beyond a certain concentration. All of these can corrode the layers protecting your phone's screen, and seep into openings to cause internal issues. This means you should generally be avoiding things like hand sanitizers and harsh cleaning agents like Windex. 

Apple's cleaning guidelines state that certain alcohol wipes, such as Clorox, are safe for use in cleaning Apple products. However, it's still recommended to stay away from them if you're cleaning your phone multiple times daily, as the alcohol can harm the screen's oleophobic (oil-repelling) coating. If you end up using an alcohol-based cleaning liquid, it's best to dilute it with water and never use it directly on the screen. Instead, dampen a cloth and wipe your screen with it.

You should also stay away from using materials with harsh surfaces when cleaning your phone's touch screen, as they can cause scratches. Ensure that anything you're using is clean and has a soft texture that doesn't feel irritable to the skin when rubbed against. Things to look out for here include cheap tissues, toilet paper, and most kinds of wearable clothing. Wet wipes work fine, but it's still best to use a microfiber cloth if you care for your phone screen's longevity.