Disinfecting the droid?

[white0ut442]

So I'm down with the swine flu..
I feel I should disinfect the phone. Are lysol wipes safe to use with the screen?

Thanks

 

[bthoward]

Would probably be fine. a mild bleach dilution should also work just fine. But hell if its just your phone then you'll be ok... Not like you can get yourself sick again.

 

[DGalt]

you can't get yourself sick from your own device (i.e. after you get better, even if you don't disinfect the phone you won't get sick from touching it). I guess if you're worried about other people then alcohol wipes would be your best bet.

 

[white0ut442]

Yeah, I'm mostly worried about others getting sick. I'd feel terrible lol
I was just a bit concerned after hearing people say that it corrodes the coating on the iphone screen and stuff

 

[DGalt]

something caustic (bleach type things) is probably not a good idea. alcohol wipes or even just rubbing alcohol on a paper towel should be sufficient

 

[lawilson2]

How about wishing the person well; I mean it's a serious illness.

I def wish you well, I hope you recover, and come back to the forum to let us know how you're progressing.

 

[Watashi]

I used a "natural" biodegradable product, just a few drops on a paper towel to clean the grease off my screen and it was the worst thing I could have done, it left a film on the screen for days.

Whatever you use test it on a small corner of the screen first (up in the black area) to make sure it doesn't damage it.

 

[Tim K]

use alcohol. period.

1. Alcohol kills germs. If you want dead germs, use alcohol.

2. Alcohol evaporates quickly and leaves no residue behind like other cleaners and bleach will.

3. Other "solutions" contain water. Water = bad for electronics. You can clean a circuit board with alcohol but I wouldn't try that with water.

Turn off your device. Remove the battery. Wipe it off with alcohol wipes. Let it dry for a few minutes. Feel better.

 

[Telexen]

use alcohol. period.

1. Alcohol kills germs. If you want dead germs, use alcohol.

2. Alcohol evaporates quickly and leaves no residue behind like other cleaners and bleach will.

3. Other "solutions" contain water. Water = bad for electronics. You can clean a circuit board with alcohol but I wouldn't try that with water.

Turn off your device. Remove the battery. Wipe it off with alcohol wipes. Let it dry for a few minutes. Feel better.

lol...you don't think there's water in an alcohol based wipe?

 

[Jedakiah]

If the wipe is damp and not soaked you will not need to concern yourself with it getting on circuit boards.

The only concern I have is whether or not it will damage the anti-scratch/protective coating on the phone. I know adhesives and removal chemicals pretty well because I have worked with them for years. While rubbing alcohol is a very mild solution I would still be concerned about it because the anti-scratch might be very sensitive. Why not ask a Verizon rep about what they recommend? Then if anything goes wrong demand that they replace the phone.

EDIT/Off-topic: Water itself is not an issue for damaging electronic componenents, but the impurities in the water can cause damage. I have seen a video of an overclocker running a PC fully submerged in purified water, but it is more common to submerge components in mineral oil.

And of course rubbing alcohol is not going to damage the system. It is highly recommended to use alcohol for wiping down the CPU and other components... it's not going to damage your phone any.

 

[icstars989]

Hope you feel better pal, but I wouldn't worry about it too much, Once it's out of your body and on a environmental surface, it only has so long to live, most die off within a couple seconds, some could last a couple days though. Either way, that flu sittin on your phone wont be around very long.

 

[mikespe]

First off whiteout...I hope you feel better!

I am glad this topic came up. I have been wondering what was safe to use to clean the touch screen myself. I never had a touch screen before so I didn't know what could damage the surface coating. I want to get a screen protector and it is usually best to clean surfaces (usually with alcohol) before applying anything. Wiping it with a soft cloth is great to make it not be smudged. But there is still body oils left behind.

 

[droidpcguru]

+1 for alcohol.. But use a lint-free cloth dampened with 91% bottled alcohol found in most Pharmacy sections. This is the most pure solution you will find in the common market. I have used 91% to restore many cellphones that have been fully immersed in water, milk, mud, etc. I also use it to clean PCB's.

 

[rjoudrey]

+1 Alcohol.

 

[kmfdmk]

So I'm down with the swine flu..
I feel I should disinfect the phone. Are lysol wipes safe to use with the screen?

Thanks

Nick is that you??

 

[DanSan]

Ive been using monster screen cleaner for almost every electronic i have. i get it cheap from work and it does wonders.

How about wishing the person well; I mean it's a serious illness.

I def wish you well, I hope you recover, and come back to the forum to let us know how you're progressing.

Actually it really isnt, people are just freaking out. More people die from the regular flu than this swine flu.

yet still, get better soon bud i bet ya feel like shit or at least did. really big of you to actually be worried about spreading germs, good looking out for your fellow man.

 

[tpriddy]

I got these wipes for my glass and plastic lenses and they have not hurt my Droid. I got a big box of individually wrapped wipes at Costco. I've found it best to lightly blow on the screen immediately after wiping to more quickly evaporate the moisture so spots and streaks aren't left.

Flents Wipe'nClear
Biodegradable Lens Wipe
"Cleaner for the environment!"

Ingredients: Water, Isopropyl Alchohol, Detergent and Anti Static.

BTW, wipes with alchohol are not recomended for devices with anti-glare coating.

P.S. Why advertise a little wipe as biodegradable and distribute them in individual paper/plastic/foil envelopes that obviously aren't.

 

[Barbara]

I'm just working on putting the alcohol in my body to kill all the germs so I don't have to worry about putting it on my phone.

On the current thread note, we got some special cleaner for our LCD TV because some cleaners make the screen yellow. I only use that for my DROID screen.

 

[shadowdude777]

On the current thread note, we got some special cleaner for our LCD TV because some cleaners make the screen yellow. I only use that for my DROID screen.

Sure, but rubbing alcohol works perfectly fine, is totally safe, and it's the one of the cheapest things ever. Why wouldn't you use it?

OP: I hope you get better!!! To disinfect the Droid:

1) Use 91% rubbing alcohol, easily available at any drugstore, or even better, 99% if you can find that.
2) My personal new favorite disinfecting method: Get a UV wand. It's simply a fluorescent UV-C bulb. The light is powerful enough to kill anything on the Droid. Can't get much more electronic-safe than that!

 

[Thumper]

Seriously, get better, swine flu may not be a death sentance, but it can't be fun.

I have the plastic screen protectors on my screen......a lightly damp cloth cleans the grease and body oils off easily. For a full dis-infect, I agree some alcohol is your best bet.

 

[Cruzatte]

Weiman E-Tronic Wipes. They've got ethyl alcohol, as do most of the best effective & safe electronics cleaners. Germ-killing is just a nice bonus!

I've used them on every device I own, Droid included, and they work like a charm. The ethyl alcohol is the only thing on the wipe, so you're not dealing with any obnoxious residues, either.

 

[aileendq]

OP: Feel better! I had a swine flu "scare" at the doc's office yesterday: turns out it's a severe respitory infection, but I digress....

I was just wondering what to do to disinfect my Droid (without messing up my beautiful glossy screen, etc.) and thought about searching the forums for just this topic, and lo and behold- here are answers!

You guys ROCK!

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Fommy now sells disinfecting wipes for personal gadgets.

 

[Tim K]

lol...you don't think there's water in an alcohol based wipe?

Well, yes of course there is, but there is a difference between 99% alcohol / 1% water and 99% water / 1% bleach etc. For all intents and purposes good alcohol wipes have "no" water in them. Even drugstores sell bottles of 90%. I will note that even the standard 70% rubbing alcohol they sell at drugstores is fine. My point was simply that a bleach solution is almost ALL water, whereas an alcohol solution is almost all alcohol.

 

[white0ut442]

Thanks everyone!!
My fever's gone, I'm just about 100% healthy again

aileendq's right, you guys do rock