Never use harsh cleaning products to clean your smartphone — do this instead

Smartphones have become an essential part of daily life; for some people it's the last thing they touch before going to bed and the first thing they hold in the morning. How healthy that habit is is up for discussion, but what's definitely not up for discussion is how necessary it is to clean your smartphone. We use these devices everywhere from living rooms to conference rooms to parties and even the toilet in your friend's house. With that kind of usage, it's not hard to understand why the average smartphone is 10 times dirtier than a toilet seat . Thankfully, cleaning your phone is a pretty straightforward task.

Even though your smartphone is basically a glass sandwich, that doesn't mean you should use harsh products like Windex, compressed air, hydrogen peroxide or worse, bleach, to clean your phone. These products contain harsh chemicals that can permanently damage your phone's screen. To be more exact, they strip the oleophobic coating on your phone's display making it lose the fingerprint-resistant, oil-repelling properties that keep the screen smooth to the touch. To properly clean your phone, all you need is a lint-free microfiber cloth, a bit of soapy water or a dedicated 70 percent isopropyl alcohol solution (or wipe) — whichever is easier to keep on hand.

First things first, grab your cleaning materials, power off your phone, then remove the case if it has one. Now grab your microfiber cloth and gently dip it into your soapy water then squeeze out any excess water. If you're using 70 percent isopropyl alcohol, simply spray it on the cloth. The cloth should be damp, not wet.

Next, gently use the cloth to thoroughly wipe your phone. Make sure to get in between the camera lenses and side button, but take it slow around your phone's openings like the USB-C port to avoid moisture getting in. This method works for both your screen and back glass.

Circling back to phone cases. For most people their phone is almost always in its case , so it stands to reason that your case is probably as dirty as your phone if not more. How you clean your case depends on what it's made of; for silicone and plastic cases, use the same soapy water or alcohol wipe as you would for your phone. Leather is the exception, since alcohol dries it out and can cause cracking, so stick to a damp cloth with mild soap instead.

Even with the right products, it's still possible to make a costly mistake when cleaning your smartphone. One of the most common ones is applying the cleaning liquid directly on the device. Any liquid that hits the phone directly can seep into the tiny openings around the screen, buttons or ports, leading to water damage even if the phone is waterproof .

Another thing to not do is clean your phone while it's plugged in. As you should know, combining any amount of moisture and electricity is just asking for trouble. Also, don't over-clean with alcohol wipes, as unnecessary repeated use even at the recommended 70 percent concentration gradually breaks down the oleophobic coating on the screen. Then lastly, avoid using rough fabric or paper towels to clean your device. Unlike microfiber cloths, which are soft and non-abrasive, these are abrasive at a microscopic level, so using rough fabric and paper towels to clean your phone will cause tiny scratches that get bigger and more noticeable the more you use those abrasive materials.