How to Disinfect Everything in Your Home

When trying to stop the spread of germs, we all have heard recommendations to be washing our hands and faces, but what about the electronic devices we touch throughout the day? Today, we are going to show you several different methods for cleaning your phone and other devices, using common household products that you may already have at home. When cleaning electronic devices, or around your home in general, it's essential to always to read the label of any cleaning product before using it, to ensure it will not damage what you are cleaning. Additionally, check your device’s manual or manufacturer resources for any recommendations on cleaning and disinfecting your device. Before cleaning your device, make sure that it’s not plugged in and doesn't have any accessories attached to it, including cases.

Cleaning Electronics

Before getting into specific cleaning methods, there are a few important things to remember and take precaution around to ensure you do not damage your device. For example, many manufacturers recommend against over-wiping of surfaces as they carry a special coating that can be removed by excessive cleaning and some harsh cleaning agents. Additionally, you should never spray or pour liquid directly on your device, apply the liquid to a clean microfiber cloth and gently rub the device. Lastly, as mentioned in the introduction, do not clean your device with any accessories attached or with the device plugged in.

Soap and water

The first method we're going use to clean the phone and the case is simply soap and water. This should be your first line of defense in cleaning any surface around your home. Although it's not technically a disinfectant, soap and water do work well at removing all kinds of germs, dirt, and debris. Even if you're going to be disinfecting your phone with disinfecting products as well, using soap and water first is a great way to maximize the disinfecting properties of whatever product you plan on using.

To use soap and water, first, you'll mix them together in a dish and submerge a microfiber cloth in the soap and water solution and get it nice and moist. and then what you want to do is simply pick up your device and your microfiber cloth and wipe the front screen carefully, ensuring to not get too much moisture around any openings. Make sure you get in and around all the buttons as well, as bacteria collect in those areas. On the back of the device, make sure to properly clean the camera and in any openings around it, but avoid getting soap and water in the openings. Next, move on to the case itself and wipe it with the soap and water solution.

Disinfectants

If you want a little more peace of mind in terms of disinfecting your phone, a lot of phone manufacturers have said that using disinfecting wipes on your phone is an acceptable way to clean it, again, as long as you're making sure you don't get any solution within the openings of your phone. Take one wipe, sometimes these can be pretty wet with the disinfecting solution, you may need to wring it out once before using it. Pick up your device and give it a proper wipe down all around, making sure to get the buttons but not in any openings. The case should be disinfected as well.

If you don’t have any disinfecting wipes, you can still use certain household items to disinfect your phone properly. If you have a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe around your home, you can use that just like you would’ve used a disinfecting wipe.

But let's say you have no disinfecting wipes and, again, soap and water aren’t going to cut it. If you do have bottled isopropyl alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, you can use that to clean your phone as well! Now, you don't want to actually pour it onto your device, but you can take a clean microfiber cloth, dampen it with the hydrogen peroxide or isopropyl alcohol, and clean it the same way as described with soap and water, ensuring not to get moisture trapped in the openings. To take extra precaution around moisture, use a slightly damp cotton swab to clean sensitive areas.

Cleaning Household Surfaces

When we talk about cleaning household surfaces, we're mostly referring to commonly touched surfaces that are most likely to spread bacteria. Including doorknobs, table surfaces, dining chairs, kitchen counters, bathroom counters, faucets and knobs, toilets, light switches, TV remote controls, and game controllers.

Soap and water

Like electronics, this is the most important and often overlooked step of disinfecting surfaces. You should be cleaning many household surfaces, such as counters, with soap and water every single day. Again, it is not a disinfectant so if you want a bit more, you can use equal parts of vinegar and water to kill some types of germs and break down dirt. However, vinegar can damage some surfaces, such as natural stone and marble, so be sure to confirm it is safe for your surface before using it.

Cleaning agents

Now, let's talk about disinfecting surfaces using store-bought products. Regardless of what product you use, if you are cleaning a surface that comes into contact with food, always be sure to clean the surface with water before preparing food on the surface. The easiest to use disinfectants typically come in the form of wipes, which are as simple to use as wiping the surface down lightly and disposing of it in the trash- do not flush disinfectant wipes!

The next easiest solution is disinfectants that come in spray bottles. They are super easy to use and can act as either general cleaners or be used to disinfect. When you use these products, most people tend to spray it on and instantly wipe it off. However, many of these products need to be left for 10 minutes to kill 99.9% of the bacteria, so be sure to always read the product instructions before beginning.

If you don’t have any of these supplies, there are a few DIY options available to you. Like electronics, you can use hydrogen peroxide (3-6%, or diluted if higher %) or isopropyl alcohol. But just like vinegar, these can break down the finishes on some surfaces, so take that into consideration before using them. If you use these products on eating surfaces be sure to clean them with water afterward, as these can be toxic when ingested.

Get cleaning!

We hope that this disinfecting guide helps you clean all the surfaces you touch the most, and help slow the spread of germs and bacteria! For more tips, check out the entire PartSelect.com blog!