TECH BYTE: How to Clean Your Devices Without Damaging Them

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — It’s not too late to get in the habit of cleaning your devices.

You often have your phone in your hands, or touching your face. Think about all of the bacteria on it. Yuck!

You have plenty of options when it comes to cleaning your devices, but Best Buy’s Nathan Roach says all you really need is a basic microfiber cloth, and some water.

“You want to stay away from Windex, ammonia-based products and things like that,” Roach said. “You want to be very careful not to drench the screen, or completely soak it. Just a little bit of water on a microfiber cloth. You wipe it right down, get all the fingerprints off, and it’ll be like new.”

You can even buy antibacterial or disinfectant wipes for your phone, as well.

“It’s not necessarily going to make the phone cleaner from a screen standpoint, but it does make it cleaner from a germ standpoint, so that’s something to think about too,” Roach said. “Especially during the cold and flu season.”

These types of wipes also work well for cleaning your ear buds.

If you do use a Lysol or Clorox cleaning wipe on your phone or tablet, make sure the wipe doesn’t have bleach, and you have a case on it.

“Some phones, laptops, even TV screens, they basically put a UV film on some of the glass, and those Clorox wipes, other just harsher chemicals can actually take some of that film off, so it’s always just recommended to use just a basic microfiber cloth with water,” he said.

And don’t forget to take the case off every once in awhile to clean off the phone itself.

There are also small cleaning kits you can keep in your purse or your car to clean off your device – like a LensPen.

“It’s actually designed for camera lenses, but it’s something you can use very easily to clean your phone or tablet or computer screen.”

Best Buy also sells an LCD cleaning kit, which works for anything with a screen. The kit includes solution and a rag.

Roach also recommends taking care of your phone’s screen in the first place, by getting a screen protector.

And you can also get those duster spray air cans to clean off your keyboard, or hard to reach areas.

Roach says not to put the can upside down, because you can spray out the frozen liquid, which could then damage your device.