How to keep your smartphone and tablet hygiene?

This news might surprise you. But the British watchdog Which?, claims that your smartphones, keyboards, and tablets are more contaminated with germs than a public toilet seat.

They have actually done the research to prove it. The company took swabs from 90 devices to search for “hazardous” levels of bacteria, including E. coli.
One iPad in the study had 600 units of Staphylococcus aureus, while a smartphone had 140. The dirtiest keyboard had 480, compared to less than 20 units per swab of an office toilet. Alarming right?

Busy lifestyles are blamed for all these germs, with people taking their devices into the bathroom with them to multitask, or rushing from bathroom back to work without properly washing their hands.
According to the head researcher and microbiologist James Francis;

“A count of 600 on a plastic device of any sort is incredibly high,”
“It indicates that some people don’t wash their hands a lot.”
“In the food industry, if we found those levels of bacteria from a hand swab of a food handler, they’d have to be taken out of the workplace and retrained in basic hygiene.”

How to keep your smartphone and tablet clean

Unfortunately it’s not advised to clean your gadgets with soap or water and Apple advises its consumers not to use alcohol-based cleaners on iPhones or iPads, which can damage the screen.

Which? however advises people to use a ‘dry lint-free cloth’ to wipe their devices clean. You can also disinfect your tablet or smartphones by using specially-designed screen wipes.

Thankfully, there are some easy and safe methods for keeping your smartphone clean:

Do – hygiene tips

• Unplug any cables before you start cleaning.
• Use a damp, soft, lint-free cloth to wipe clean.
• Use a dry lint-free cloth to remove streaks and dry your phone.
• Avoid getting moisture in any openings or ports.
• Disinfect using specially-designed screen wipes. Apple advises against using alcohol-based cleaners on iPads or iPhones as these can damage the screen.

Don’t – hygiene tips

• Use a scratchy or abrasive material, as this would leave permanent marks on the screen.
• Use an aggressive detergent that could erode fragile surfaces on phone or tablet touchscreens.
• Use alcohol-based cleaners on iPads or iPhones, according to Apple’s advice for these products.
• Only rely on wiping your phone on a shirt sleeve or dry cloth.

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How clean is your iPad? - Press Office

press.which.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/.../8-10_Tech-hygiene.pdf‎

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PHonES and HEadSEtS, taBLEtS and SmartPHonES

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