Life

5 top tips for cleaning your tech, from phones to laptops

If you can’t remember the last time you gave your devices a proper clean, it’s likely been too long.

When was the last time you cleaned your smartphone?
Someone cleaning a smartphone When was the last time you cleaned your smartphone? (Alamy Stock Photo)
By Max Freeman-Mills

Plenty of us now go through life with a few bits of tech on our person at basically all times, from wireless earbuds to our smartphone.

Over time, there’s no getting away from the fact that these devices can get, well, grimy. Here’s the good news, though – you don’t need to pay a professional to clean your tech.

It can actually be pretty simple to clean your devices, especially if you do so regularly to stop them from getting really dirty…

1. Wipe them down

Perhaps it’s too obvious a place to start, but we all sometimes need the obvious pointed out to us. A good microfibre cloth (or 10) is a pretty essential part of anyone’s life now, as far as we’re concerned – these cleverly-made cloths will let you wipe down displays and screens without too much fear that you might make scratches thanks to a rough fabric.

If you want to level this up slightly, there are plenty of branded wipes and sprays on the market aimed at tech, and they’ll generally have isopropyl alcohol in their solution, which is great for cleaning your devices. Still, make sure you always read labels carefully to ensure that the wipe or spray you go for is indeed aimed at the type of thing you’re cleaning.

2. Get some compressed air

PC-building geeks will probably already know the value of a can of compressed air, but this is actually a purchase that we’d recommend for everyone. Compressed air cans basically let you blast out quick jets of air, generally through a tight nozzle or tube, and these jets are amazing for cleaning out dust and detritus.

So, a can of compressed air is your best friend for cleaning between the keys on a keyboard without having to pop them all off, or for dislodging some grit in your iPhone’s speaker grille, or for cleaning out a bit of your laptop’s hinge that you can’t reach any other way. Just be careful to use short blasts – the air comes out really cold and can cause condensation, so prolonged jets might not be ideal for your tech.

3. The old-fashioned way

While fancy wipes and compressed air are a bit new-fangled, there are still a couple of very reliable little tools for cleaning tech that shouldn’t be overlooked – cotton buds and toothpicks. So much grime on our devices is mushed into seams and vents, after all, that you’re highly likely to need some fine tools. A cotton bud can be perfect for picking up dust, and can also be soaked in isopropyl alcohol to make it a bit more powerful, while an old-fashioned toothpick can be amazing for gouging out grime.

However, when using a toothpick, do be careful – you’d be surprised by how little pressure can be enough to damage a port or speaker grille on modern phones, for example.

(Alamy Stock Photo)

4. Open it up

Before plunging ahead with this sort of work, be sure to check the warranty situation of your devices – opening them up in some cases could void parts of that coverage. Still, for many devices, you’ll be in the clear to take the back off them, remove a dust cover or generally get access to their insides a little.

This can be the difference between a surface-level polishing and an actual deep-clean that might improve thermal performance or lengthen its life span – big devices like PlayStation 5 consoles will be begging for a good clean-out within a year of use.

If there are removable covers, take them off, and use the tools we’ve discussed so far to remove dust, dirt and hair that you find within. A vacuum cleaner might even be your friend here if used carefully.

5. Check with the manufacturer first

Those tips might have you raring to go out and clean everything you own, toothpick and wet wipes in hand, but there’s one more important thing to remember – almost every manufacturer will have guidance and documentation around cleaning their devices. This might be lengthy or it might be short (and it might not exist after all), but you should check for it before doing anything, either way.

Checking this sort of information could help you avoid a whole heap of annoyance, and make sure that you’re just cleaning your devices, instead of accidentally doing damage to them.