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How to Clean Your Germ-Covered iPhone
Apr 30, 2024
Your devices are covered in germs, bacteria, and even viruses that are both disgusting, and capable of making you sick. If you're trying to keep your stuff clean and disinfected, there's a right way to do it. Before you start washing your iPhone in the sink or taking your laptop into the shower, start with a proper cleaning to keep your devices clean and working properly. 3M Electronics Microfiber Cleaning Cloth: https://amzn.to/39Aj2pe Supplies you need: - Distilled water - Dish soap - Microfiber cloth - Cotton swabs - Rubbing alcohol - Small bowls How to disinfect your Mac, iPhone, AirPods, and more: https://www.cultofmac.com/689701/how-to-disinfect-your-mac-iphone-mouse-trackpad-keyboard-and-cases/ Follow Ian! Twitter: https://twitter.com/ianfuchs Instagram: https://instagram.com/enfoxxx Follow Cult of Mac! Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultofmac
View Video Transcript
0:00
What's going on, everybody
0:06
Ian for cult of Mac. And according to a recent study, the surface of your iPhone is up to 10 times dirtier than
0:13
the seat of a toilet. And with cold and flu season in full swing, a certain virus running rampant around the country
0:19
it's important to make sure that your devices stay clean because that'll help keep your hands
0:23
clean, which then in turn will help keep you a little healthier
0:27
But before you go throwing your iPhone in with the dishes to keep it clean or giving your iPad or your laptop a bath in the tub, there are some right and
0:36
wrong ways to clean your devices. And it all starts with what you're using as your foundation
0:43
To get started, you're going to need a couple of different things. First off is distilled water
0:49
Now, this is a giant jug, so I've got it here in these little bowls. You'll also want some isopropal alcohol
0:56
60 to 70% is ideal. You'll also want some dish soap. A couple cotton swabs or Q-tips
1:03
A paper clip or a toothpick, something that's soft, so this is like one of those rubber-coated paper clips
1:10
These are also really great. These are makeup remover pads, which are really useful, and we'll get to those in a minute
1:15
And you also want a couple of microfiber cloths. These are microfiber tary cloths used for washing a car
1:21
which actually work really well. And then just another microfiber cloth. This one's from 3M, and it's designed specifically for electronics
1:27
So it has kind of an antistatic layer, which helps pull dust off
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Nothing to get started, I would take your microfiber cloth and just give your device a good
1:35
once over to make sure that there's no major dust or debris on the device
1:40
This will help get any of like bigger debris and dust off
1:44
Because as we go forward, when you start cleaning these a little more intensely
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if there's still debris on those devices, that debris can actually cause like little tiny
1:53
micro scratches in the screen of the glass of these devices. So it is important to make sure you
1:57
wipe it down a little bit before you actually get started with the cleaning. As we're going
2:03
through these different devices, it's important to make sure that you get everything. So my iPad
2:08
which is just absolutely covered in fingerprints, needs a good wipe with this before we get
2:13
on to the next step. Now, since the most common thing those people here are going to clean
2:19
is their phone. We'll start with the steps to kind of take care of that. Before we get started
2:24
the thing that I always like to do is take your toothpick
2:27
or your paperclip, fold it out, so it's kind of L-shaped like that
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And just very carefully, very gently, poke it into the port on the bottom of the phone
2:41
for the lightning cable and just gently kind of drag up. And this will help get any weird little like pocket lent bits out
2:52
Which, well, it's not important for disinfecting the phone, can make a pretty big difference
2:57
and whether the device is taking a charge or transmitting data. So it is a good one to do every so often
3:05
The iPhone's really the only device that really suffers from that because it the one that rides in your pocket You can also check your iPad If your iPad has USBC ports or you doing your laptop I would recommend not putting anything in those ports because the little blade
3:17
inside could actually get a little bit screwed up if you are sticking things in there
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Your AirPods is another place. You may want to use the little paper clip trick because your
3:27
AirPods also ride in your pocket quite frequently. And so you can get all kinds of pocket lint and stuff
3:31
inside of the lightning port on them. If you use the wireless charging option for your
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pods. It's not as big of a deal because you're not putting things in the lightning port
3:42
They're not like plugging in the lightning port anyway, so it's less of an issue. Now, to actually get started with the disinfecting and sanitizing part of cleaning your phone
3:51
you'll want to use your dish soap in most cases. If your iPhone is really, really disgusting
3:56
or you work somewhere that's going to be covered with lots of bacteria, you can use an alcohol
4:02
solution to help cleaner device, but alcohol can break down the oleophobic coating
4:07
on the screens of devices. So Apple recommends not using it on the screens of your devices as much as possible
4:16
I know with things like disease running around the country, it is important to use a little
4:20
bit stronger disinfectant every once in a while. So doing it occasionally is probably fine, but I definitely wouldn't be using a rubbing alcohol
4:27
solution on the screens of your devices with any regularity. So take a little bit of your dish soap, put it in with your distilled, and you're a little bit of
4:37
distilled water. I like to just take one of the Q-tips or cotton swabs and use that to give it
4:46
a good stir. So you have a nice little soapy water solution. This Q-tip is actually going
4:54
to be handy in just a minute. And then you're going to take one of your microfiber cloths
5:00
whichever prefer. Like I said, it's best to have a couple of them. And just take a corner of it and
5:06
get it damp. You don't want it like dripping wet. If you can squeeze liquid out, you probably
5:11
have too much, but just enough that it's damp. Then just take that and wipe it over the surfaces
5:17
of your device. So you're getting it, you know, around all the edges, around the back, over the
5:24
camera module, which is going to have the added benefit of you'll have a nice clean camera
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so you'll get, you know, nice crystal clear shots next time you take those pictures. And then
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you can kind of just switch to a drier spot of the microfiber cloth and just continue to
5:36
you over the rest of the device with that to help dry it off and get rid of any weird
5:41
streaks or fingerprints or anything like that. And now your device should be much cleaner
5:47
Most of the germs and bacteria that we see spreading disease around the country is stuff
5:54
that breaks down pretty easily with a little bit of soap solution because it'll break down
5:58
the fat layer that surrounds the actual virus. Now, if the device you're cleaning is a laptop, like a macular
6:06
or something, again, make sure that this is powered off because it's very important that
6:11
your device is not having water run in it while there's power actively running through it
6:18
But you can actually open up the laptop and using that same cotton swab that we used before to stir up the water soap solution
6:31
you can actually use that and kind of run just right between the rows of the keys
6:37
And this will help get any weird junk or whatever that's stuck between the keys
6:44
You can also take that same microfiber cloth with the soap solution
6:49
Again, make sure it is not too wet because you don't want water running underneath the keyboard
6:53
These are not designed to have water on them, but you can gently rub it across the track pad
7:00
the metal surfaces. Anything you're going to touch on your laptop is probably worth wiping off with this
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You can also use this on the screen. You can also use just the microfiber cloth, especially if you have a nice dry one that's good
7:13
at getting fingerprints and whatever off. You can use that to clean the screen
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But ideally, if you're going to use a cleaner, you're going to want to use something like a dish soap, again, on the laptop, just so that it's more mild if it does get it all inside or underneath anything
7:30
Now, if you need a more serious clean than the soapy water solution, you can also take the distilled water and a little bit of this rubbing alcohol, depending on what source you look at
7:45
Some things say anywhere between two to one to one to one. So, you know, kind of eyeball it
7:53
Just take that, mix it in with your water. And then you can take, again, the dry end of the Q-tip
8:00
Make sure that everything's nice and mixed together to make sure that everything is good and clean
8:05
From there, you can either take, again, the microfiber cloths or these makeup remover pads, which work really well
8:11
because they'll soak up a little bit of the actual cleaning solution
8:15
And then kind of on the edge of the bowl, just make sure you squeeze out any excess so it's
8:19
not really, really gross. And then you can take that, especially over like the outside of a device, like the outside
8:25
of your laptop, where there's not keys or anything where liquid can get inside and just
8:31
wipe over the surface and then taking a dry microfiber cloth, make sure that you wipe off
8:36
any excess that's sitting there. It is important to make sure that if you are putting anything on the surfaces of your devices
8:44
The devices dry before you turn them back on. The same thing is true for smart keyboards for iPads
8:52
You can actually use this alcohol solution or the soapy water solution
8:56
and run it right over the lining inside the iPad case. You just want to make sure that the lining is dry
9:06
before you put it back on the iPad. Otherwise, you're going to trap moisture in there
9:10
which could lead to significant problems down the road. Now, several sources recommend against bleach-based cleaners because they are very intense
9:23
on electronic devices and on the surfaces of things. Again, rubbing alcohol can also be a very intense cleaner, so that's why we want to dilute
9:31
it a little bit. So again just make sure that you not overdoing it You not using super harsh cleaners on your devices because it is really important that you keep your devices working Otherwise all of this was kind of for nothing
9:47
Finally, cleaning your AirPods is another really important thing to do because your AirPods do go in your ears
9:53
and you do touch them a lot with your hands. They're also the kind of thing that you're going to use
9:57
on public transit or in public spaces a lot more. And so it's important to keep them clean as well
10:02
Now these, since they are a hard plastic, both for the case and the actual AirPods themselves
10:07
you can use that alcohol-based cleaner and make sure you get a little bit better clean
10:13
So again, taking a little bit of that cleaner and just wipe over the outside of the case
10:18
Make sure you don't get any in the lightning port since that is a spot where you could get moisture
10:22
inside, which could cause significant damage or even failure of the device
10:27
And then after you wipe it down, good with the rubbing alcohol solution. Just wipe it off with that microfiber cloth here and it should be good to go
10:37
For the AirPods themselves inside, you can pull them out. You can also wipe out the inside of the case a little bit
10:43
You get a lot of weird stuff that builds up here kind of in the opening of the AirPods case
10:50
So having a little bit of rubbing alcohol, maybe even on one of these cotton swabs, you can make
10:55
sure any weird crud that's built up in there, you know, pocket lint
11:00
and little metal shavings, which always seem to show up in there, even though I don't know how
11:06
And take this, kind of wipe around inside those spots and make sure things are nice and clean
11:12
They actually are pods themselves, take a rubbing alcohol solution. Just wipe down the stems and overall the surfaces to make sure they're good and clean
11:23
So I think that pretty much wraps it up. That's kind of the tricks and ways to clean your Apple devices
11:28
Again, for most things, you're going to want to use a soap solution with just some dish soap and some distilled water for certain things like your AirPods, like a really, really gross device, maybe even like the smart keyboard folio
11:44
You can use a rubbing alcohol solution. Just make sure that you're mixing it no more than one part alcohol to one part water
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And from there, like I said, you can pretty much clean any of your devices, whether it's a laptop
11:58
a keyboard case or an iPad, an iPhone, AirPods. You can even use it on your Apple Watch
12:03
Actually take that same alcohol solution and just rub it over the screen of your Apple Watch
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Make sure that you wipe off the excess. And now your Apple Watch is also disinfected
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which again will help reduce the spread of any kind of weird germs or bacteria, viruses
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that are on those devices without causing any significant damage. Let me what you guys think in the comments down below
12:24
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12:33
I'm Mean for Cult of Mac. I'll catch you guys in the next one
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