How Dirty Is My Phone? Not as Clean as You May Think!

We should all start washing our phones as much as we wash our hands. Surprised? Confused? Well, don’t be. Can you remember the last time you were in public without your phone? Heck, can you even remember the last time you were on the toilet seat without your phone? The truth is, we take our phones everywhere — we don’t even care whether we’ve just washed our hands. We’ll pick it right back up and head to the dinner table.

How Many Germs Are on Your Phone?

Research findings have varied on how many germs are crawling on your phone’s surface but the average number has almost always been greater than 15,000 bacterial gene copies per square inch. According to a journalist at Seattle Times, an average phone is covered in over 25,000 bacteria per square inch. A recent study on the phones of high school students revealed an average number of 17,000 bacteria on each phone.

Just to give you an idea of how high this number is, here is the average number of germs on various surfaces:

• Doorknob: 8,643 bacteria per square inch
• Kitchen counter: 1,736 bacteria per square inch
• Toilet seat: 1,201 bacteria per square inch
• Pet food bowl: 2,110 bacteria per square inch
• Checkout screen: 4,400 bacteria per square inch

As you can see, your cellphone harbors over 10 times more bacteria than an average toilet seat — think about that the next time you hold your phone against your face.

But one may wonder, how can such a high number of bacteria not make us sick? Well, it may contribute but it’s not the kind that can give you a staph infection. Our skin is covered in microbes that don’t cause any harm to our health. So every time you’re typing a text, taking a call, or sending an email, the secretions and natural bacteria on your hands get passed on to your phone.

Warm Environments Are Perfect Breeding Grounds

Just because it doesn’t immediately make you sick, doesn’t mean that you let it slip. There are some bacteria that should concern you. Think about coming in contact with a contaminated surface or with a person who is infected. It’s so easy for those germs to be transferred to your phone. Your phone can also act as a breeding ground for bacteria — bacteria grow rapidly between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

How Can I Keep My Phone Clean?

There are three levels to cleaning your phone: cleaning the debris and visible soil, sanitizing and reducing the presence of bacteria and viruses, and disinfecting (eliminating disease-causing microorganisms).

Disinfectant Wipes

There are some key points you need to remember while disinfecting your phone. Firstly, you should unplug your phone and switch it off. Secondly, make sure you use disinfectant wipes with 70 percent isopropyl alcohol or a similar disinfecting spray. Lysol wipes and Clorox wipes are also safe to use. Just make sure to do it gently, it’s an electronic device after all.

Phone Sanitizer

Phone sanitizers are incorporated with UV-C light that is used to sterilize the phone’s surface. Most phone sanitizer manufacturers claim that these devices can kill up to 99.9 percent of germs — the actual percentage may be lower. You place your phone in a compartment, which then sterilizes your phone in a few minutes. It’s a bit of a splurge, but also the most effective and convenient method.

Restricting Usage

Lastly, you should be mindful of when you’re touching your phone. Once you’ve disinfected your cell phone, be careful about where you’re using it. Set some ground rules — you won’t pick it up right after you’ve washed your hands, you won’t take it to the bathroom, you won’t put it on paper towel dispensers in public bathrooms and other similar situations.