After the spread of COVID-19 around the world, sanitizing your tech devices has become even more important. Even before the pandemic, keeping your gadgets and accessories clean was advisable but rarely followed. But due to concerns regarding the coronavirus’ survival rate on plastics and other surfaces, knowing how to sanitize your tech properly assumed much more importance.
Your phones, laptops, tablets, and accessories are some of the most used items in your household. Hence, they’re prime suspects when it comes to the spreading of the virus. Especially if there are multiple people in the same house using the same devices.
Naturally, cleaning your electronic devices is not as simple as giving them a good ol’ fashioned wash. One needs to use appropriate equipment and procedures while sanitizing these sensitive and costly devices.
Follow the process shown below to sanitize the tech devices found in your home:
Cellphones, Tablets, and Computers
Some of the most common ‘high-touch’ items we regularly use during the day are our smartphones, tablets, and personal computers. During the global lockdowns, people started spending more time working from home on their phones, laptops, and desktops.
It, therefore, became essential to ensure regular sanitization of these gadgets, especially the ones you use outside your home. The process for sanitizing your phones, tablets, and computers is quite similar. You simply need to take care of a few thumb rules:
- Always unplug your devices before cleaning them. It’s better to completely switch them off, especially if you’re cleaning your laptop or desktop screens. Also, remove any covers on your phones and tablets.
- Begin with a soft, dry, lint-free cloth like a microfiber cloth and wipe both the surface and display of your device.
- Next, spray some 70% isopropyl alcohol on your microfiber cloth and gently wipe the screen in a circular motion. You can also use Clorox disinfecting wipes. Never spray any liquids directly on your devices.
- Take extreme care not to let any liquid seep into ports or buttons. When the isopropyl alcohol has completely evaporated, use a dry microfiber cloth to give another wipe to the device.
- Finally, wipe your cover in a similar way before putting it back on your phone or tablet.
Peripherals – Keyboard, Mouse, Headphones
Our beloved gadgets feel incomplete without peripherals like keyboards, mice, headphones, earphones, power banks, etc. Therefore, they also constitute high-touch devices and need to be properly sanitized to minimize the spread of the virus.
For headphones, earphones, power banks, and the like, you can simply wipe them with a dry and wet soft cloth successively. Again, use 70% isopropyl alcohol or Clorox wipes for the job.
For keyboards and mice, the process gets slightly more complicated. Keyboards gather large amounts of dust and grime over time and it’s not easy to clean the areas between the keys.
Hence, you need to use a keycap puller or a flathead screwdriver to pull the keys out and clean them individually. For the rest of the keyboard, shake it to loosen some of the dust particles and wipe the rest with a microfiber cloth damp with 70% isopropyl alcohol.
When it comes to a mouse, take great care not to let any liquid seep under the buttons or into the battery compartment, if it’s a wireless mouse. And always remove the batteries before starting the cleaning process.
Wearables and Accessories
It’s the age of smartwatches, AirTags, and portable speakers. Wearables and accessories have exploded in the recent past and have become an indispensable part of many people’s routines, both inside and outside their homes.
Smartwatches can be cleaned in much the same way as your phones and headphones. Except, do not use the cleaning liquid or the wipe on the strap of your watch. The fabric there isn’t very alcohol-friendly.
Accessories like Bluetooth speakers, AirTags, or MagSafe battery packs should be cleaned first with a dry, lint-free cloth. Use a brush to dust off the magnetic area of your MagSafe accessories. A damp microfiber cloth can then be used to wipe off any dust or grime still left on the surface.
Game consoles and TVs
The pandemic forced many of us to spend hours on our gaming consoles and TVs, trying to entertain ourselves while locked inside our homes. This naturally made it crucial not to ignore cleaning these devices as well.
While sanitizing your game consoles like Xbox or Playstation, make sure to keep any ports and openings away from liquids. Use a lint-free cloth to avoid scratching the surface of your console. And lastly, don’t use any liquids containing hydrogen peroxide or bleach. This goes for any of your gadgets. And if you haven’t seen the inside of your console in a long time, follow this guide to clean it thoroughly on the inside and outside.
Cleaning a big screen TV can be complicated as TVs generally have highly delicate screens. Any excess pressure can damage your screen beyond repair. Hence, use caution when cleaning the screen, using gentle circular strokes with a 70%-isopropyl-alcohol-dampened microfiber cloth only.
Wrapping Up
Keeping your tech clean and free from dust and germs should be the norm even without the threat of deadly viruses. It extends the life of your devices and adds to a more enjoyable experience.
