Technology 101: How to Rid Your Tech of Germs

There’s one that never gets washed but is glued to your hands every day, regardless of where you are, what your hands have touched, where it’s been dropped or what it’s been covered in. Yep, you guessed it…your phone.

We go to great lengths during our everyday lives to prevent the spread of germs, from continual handwashing with soap, to opening doors with paper towels after leaving the bathroom – but we bet you’ve never washed your phone or laptop down. Most technology that we use regularly is ridden with germs. Here’s now to get rid of them and keep your tech clean and germ-free!

The phone is the obvious culprit here. They get pressed to your face, stuck in your pockets, carted around wherever you go and are constantly being touched, not only by you but often by other people including your friends, parents or partner. How often have you been cooking and in between handling raw meat, vegetables, dairy and other products had to touch your phone to scroll down to the next part in the recipe, or quickly replied to a message from a friend?

The obvious solution for quick and easy germ protection is to wipe your phone down regularly. You can use antibacterial wipes and special phone cleaners, which are the best option. Or you can make your own solution for cleaning your phone by using half and half of vinegar and water or rubbing alcohol and water. Just wipe it over your phone with a clean cotton wool pad or soft cloth. Try to avoid the screen itself though – but you should have a protector on anyway!

For a deep clean, get your hands on some earbuds and toothpicks. Use them to gently remove any gunk and grime from the little crevices in your phone.

We pop in our earphones every time we go to gym, need to listen to a video on our computers at work, or during that boring passenger commute to work, but when was the last time you thought about cleaning those earphones? For ear infection prevention it’s important to regularly clean your earphones.

In-ear headphones are designed to create a seal so that they don’t slip, but this increases the heat levels in the ear canal. The result? More wax and grease lining the earbud. Make that even more of a risk if you exercise with earbuds in too, along with the added sweat that they are no doubt exposed to before being chucked in your bag with your dirty workout clothes and towel. Pretty gross, right?

Obviously, you can’t just dunk your precious earphones in water without ruining them. Instead, make up a mixture of water and sunlight liquid, then use a cloth which has been dipped in this liquid and wrung out to gently wipe down the earbuds. Remember, less is more. Too much soap will leave that horrible residue on the buds, which will irritate your ears and only attract more dirt. Too much water, clearly, will break them.