How do you sterilize your mobile devices? Or do you? :) (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

Hey guys, I know I may sound nuts, but how do you guys sterilize your mobile devices? Actually I know I’m nuts.

Ever since the Pandemic hit, I’ve made a ritual of whenever I go out, and touch things and use my iPhone and MacBook Pro at work, when I get home, I use alcohol and a paper towel and I wipe down the iphone and MacBook Pro outsides, and the keyboard before they touch anything in the house. I feel more comfortable using them afterwards at home. The iPhone 12 has the Apple Silicon case and it’s holding up very well. The MacBook Pro has a third party plastic snap on cover to protect it. I wipe that and then the keyboard and palm rest. Since the Apple Watch is waterproof, I wash that with soap and water when I wash my hands.

Maybe I’m overdoing it and there’s low risk of contracting anything from the iPhone and laptop. But better safe!

I’ve heard of UV-C light devices that disinfects surfaces. And I did see what looked like a tanning bed device the size of a smart phone you can place a phone in to disinfect with the UV light. I haven’t investigated those. I wouldn’t know if those use the right light type. I suppose the iPhone 12 is water resistant so it could be wiped down in soapy water, but I hate to get it wet. And it seems wasteful using those Lysol wipes to clean surfaces, plus they leave the surface feeling odd.,

Just thought I’d ask the group here. As I said, maybe this is over doing it.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I think it’s overdoing it, Nelson. I never sterilize my iPhone or Watch (or anything other than kitchen counters and toilets) and only caught Covid because my wife brought it home from her job (home healthcare where a client who was Covid positive but she didn’t know it at the time, spit directly in her face) and I was in very close proximity of her in the days following (although my wife didn’t think to tell me this at the time) until she developed a wet, hacking cough. All the peer-reviewed studies I’ve read pretty much rule out catching Covid (or most any cold or virus) from direct contact with an inanimate object. My wife insists on using sanitizing wipes on the handle of shopping trolleys and I never bother. Never have and very rarely get sick. Statically, she catches more colds and flu than I do and that is a direct result of her being immunocompromised and breathing in other peoples’ wet, hacking cough sputum in the store during cold and flu season and me getting a flu vaccine every year.

 

[DaveF]

I don’t.

Once we we learned mid or late 2020 that Covid-19 is airborne, and not transmitted by surface contact, I stopped worrying about hand sanitizer, etc.

But if surface contamination / cleanliness is of interest / concern for you, I’d think simple alcohol wipes would be the way to go. (But nothing based on Ammonia, like Chlorox wipes, or other organic solvents such as acetone / nail polish remover.)

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

It made sense to be much more wary and err on being overly cautious during the early days of the pandemic when too much remained unknown, the disease was/seemed definitely far more serious, especially before an effective vax became available, and we haven't gone thru it much yet. But none of that are so now after 2-1/2 years (and what the others said above)...

I almost never bother sanitizing my phone, etc for Covid after the first several months or so (not that I went out that often anyway)... though I do wash my hands w/ some antibacterial soap when I get home if I've handled all that much stuff outside (like going shopping) -- that's just good hygiene even before this pandemic though. IF I feel like my phone likely came in all that much contact w/ Covid or whatever else, then I might wipe it down w/ some antibacterial wipe or the like, but again, not really all that different than before this pandemic.

Maybe if you're somehow much more prone to catching colds/flu via your phone, etc than the avg person, I suppose you'd wanna to more careful...

_Man_

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey guys, thanks for your comments.

I am a germaphobe. Well before the pandemic I’d been very careful about touching public surfaces like door handles and gas pumps. I never touch the gas pump with my bare hands. It must be working as I cannot remember the last time I had the flu or a cold In the last decade or two.

I had seen articles such as this before the pandemic that made me think more about my iPhone and other things. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...t-and-so-these-other-everyday-items/99530570/

I think my personality is such that I’ll always be a little more careful. It’s part of my neurosis.

I let the IT guy at work fix a network setting on my laptop for accessing our network and after he was done, the key caps were all shiney from the oils on his fingers. I can’t stand that! I had to clean it right away.

I know I’m kind of extreme. I can say I’ve not contracted Covid. And I plan to keep it that way.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I have never sterilized a phone. I did run an iPod Nano through the washing machine accidentally, though. It didn't survive, although the Etymotic ear buds in the same case did.

 

[Malcolm R]

I’ve heard of UV-C light devices that disinfects surfaces. And I did see what looked like a tanning bed device the size of a smart phone you can place a phone in to disinfect with the UV light.

I was gifted one of these a couple years ago. I've only used it a handful of times, and don't really have any way to know if it's doing anything as advertised.

Like others, I'm not really concerned with getting COVID from touch, but it's possible to pick up other germs that way so I'm still handwashing and sanitizing regularly (though I did this before COVID, too, as it's just good hygienic practice).

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I'm no germaphobe -- my oldest daughter seems to be a little bit though -- but I do minimize touching very public things w/ my hands for the most part, eg. handles/poles on the subway or bus, and also choose to stand more, instead of sitting (and maybe lean on things in certain ways, if needed like on a moving bus or subway train) -- I'm usually perfectly comfortable w/ standing anyway, and it's good to let others have the seat who probably could use it more...

Basically just reducing risks to a reasonably acceptable level, but not trying that hard to completely eliminate them, which is unrealistic and (probably waaay) too inconvenient (and/or costly), ie. law of diminishing returns definitely applies here.

IMO, getting a little bit sick once in a long while should be fine and normal (and probably means you're giving your immune system reasonable and probably necessary exercise/workout to remain good and strong)... and quite likely strikes the healthiest balance in the long run.

FWIW, I too haven't had the flu (or at least a full-blown one anyway) in a very long time. The last time I had something as bad as a full-blown flu was probably over 30 years ago back in my college days (and I'm not sure it was/involved the flu either) -- since then, I've had moderate colds (sometimes w/ coughs that can persist to some degree upto a few weeks) and rare times w/ some bit of fever, but nothing that serious nor knocked me out quite that much. And I've never even gone for a flu shot at all. I did get more sick much more often and more seriously when I was a kid, especially during the earlier years in Hong Kong, besides that one episode in college. My mother thinks my getting sick so often/much back then probably helped build up my immune system, and it probably did -- well, sounds like a "good story" anyway, LOL...

_Man_

 

[Malcolm R]

I'm no germaphobe -- my oldest daughter seems to be a little though -- but I do minimize touching very public things w/ my hands for the most part, eg. handles/poles on the subway or bus, and also choose to stand more (and maybe lean on things in certain ways, if needed like on a moving bus or subway train).

I do that, too, for the most part and always have. Using my arm, the back of my hand, or my leg to open doors or move things. In winter, when I'm wearing a jacket, I'll pull my hand back inside my sleeve and use my sleeve to grab door handles and things. Maybe I am a germophobe after all.

I still recall in the relatively early days of COVID (I think Fall 2020) when my 76-year-old father and I were at a restaurant. As we were leaving the building, he used both open-palm hands to push on the bar to open the door, sliding his hands along the bar as the door opened, then almost immediately decided to rub his face with both hands. It was almost like he was purposely trying to catch something.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Once you've seen stuff like this (NVM everyone else's "cooties" or the sadly, more filthy homeless that do loiter about), don't know how you'd feel comfy holding/touching very public handles/poles/etc w/ bare hands, LOL...

Giant 'Pole Dancing' Rat Performs for and Disgusts Commuters on New York Subway in Viral Video

The rat's performance has divided New Yorkers online

people.com

I've never seen that in person, but definitely don't need/want to, LOL...

_Man_

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Once you've seen stuff like this (NVM everyone else's "cooties" or the sadly, more filthy homeless that do loiter about), don't know how you'd feel comfy holding/touching very public handles/poles/etc w/ bare hands, LOL...

Giant 'Pole Dancing' Rat Performs for and Disgusts Commuters on New York Subway in Viral Video

The rat's performance has divided New Yorkers online

people.com

I've never seen that in person, but definitely don't need/want to, LOL...

_Man_

I've met plenty of New York city rats. They are not your average rats. The last time I was there on the Lower East Side I was out walking at night and a rat the size of a small dog ambled out of a bush near a metal fence as I was passing and joined me on my stroll. It walked right beside me for about two blocks. I looked down at it and it looked up at me, no words or comments were exchanged. Finally, we parted ways when it took a right turn down a street and I kept going straight. I swear it gave me a nod of goodbye when we parted ways.

Oh, and on your phone question my wife buys some sort of phone wipes, I would say alcohol based. Don't know for sure but they leave your phone smelling lemony fresh.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I've met plenty of New York city rats. They are not your average rats. The last time I was there on the Lower East Side I was out walking at night and a rat the size of a small dog ambled out of a bush near a metal fence as I was passing and joined me on my stroll. It walked right beside me for about two blocks. I looked down at it and it looked up at me, no words or comments were exchanged. Finally, we parted ways when it took a right turn down a street and I kept going straight. I swear it gave me a nod of goodbye when we parted ways.

Oh, and on your phone question my wife buys some sort of phone wipes, I would say alcohol based. Don't know for sure but they leave your phone smelling lemony fresh.

You shoulda followed it into some French hole-in-the-wall bistro and tried some excellent ratatouille like mama used to make, LOL.

_Man_

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

You shoulda followed it into some French hole-in-the-wall bistro and tried some excellent ratatouille like mama used to make, LOL.

_Man_

I might have considered that but the rat was not wearing a beret.

 

[DaveF]

@Nelson Au You gotta do what makes you comfortable and don’t feel bad about it.

As I noted, I expect alcohol wipes are probably best and easiest.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey Dave, yeah, I’m going to do what I need to do. And I don’t feel bad about it. Thanks

I think as time passes, I’ll feel more relaxed about going to public places.

 

[Guardyan]

Hey @Nelson Au, have you checked Apple's article How to clean your Apple products? I've followed their directions and have no regrets.

In terms of alcohol, Apple recommends 70-percent isopropyl alcohol, but per my experience I have always used 99.8-percent isopropyl (and a bunch of electronics technicians use it to fix and clean electronics) and had no issue. It evaporates almost instantly.

Also, having a screen protector film on my iPhone has always made me more at ease to clean it with alcohol. Having heard that alcohol could be a problem with the oleophobic coating, I never gave it much thought knowing I had a protector on top of it.

As for UV-C light devices, I dunno if all of them are the same. There's one that is shaped live a flower vase and it's gotten great reviews and actually testing that shows it does the job properly. I need to look it up and see if I can find its brand name.

Like you I had also seen that article about some smartphones being dirtier than toilets and that's why, if needed, I beg people to never ask me to touch or pick up their phones. It's amazing how the average person don't overthink any of these things and how people are generally disgusting. I remember my college days when I lived in a dorm that didn't have private bathrooms and I often saw people going to the stalls and leaving without washing their hands. Yuck as hell! And I have had my share of hearing similar stories about people witnessing stuff like that at airport restrooms, work places, etc.

You shouldn't be apologetic or describe yourself as "nuts." If anything, I wish people were more hygienic. After I've seen a short doc on germaphobes, I can see how that can be a problem for the people suffering from it, but if your case is just about playing on the safe side and it's not keeping you from living your life, you have nothing to worry. Before COVID I was already the type that reserved one hand "to myself" and another hand "to the world," so I always use my phone, handle my belongings with the hand that is not touching doorknobs, public transportation poles, doors, etc., and I wash my hands several times a day. Never had COVID, and even before it I rarely got sick and never with the flu. I can only believe that my habits contribute a great deal to that - though skeptical people will say that has nothing to do with anything and that I probably have a better immune system than most. Your uneasiness in regards to the IT guy's oily fingertips on your keyboard is not foreign to me as I'd have done the very same you did, and it also goes to show that Apple's new design for keyboards with black keys is a questionable one because it always has this bad appearance even when its handled with care by hands that were properly washed before using the keyboard. Back when keys were silver, things were a little better in regards to its overall aspect after being used (and they were more comfortable too).

 

[John Dirk]

Not attacking you but this about sums up my feelings on the subject.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey John, thanks for the George Carlin clip, it was funny. Though I did notice you did start the Covid vaccination thread. . I get it. But there are just things I need to do for now. The first year of Covid was quite a traumatic experience for all of us to see so many people dying. A little extra effort helps me get through the day. I ate lunch at the office yesterday with co-workers as we all went in to do a group review of some items at the office. I ate my sandwich with my hands. I did wash them first.

Just out of curiosity I checked on Carlin’s Wikipedia page, I see he died of heart trouble. So it wasn’t germs thst got him.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hi Mattie, I do appreciate your post a lot! We are in complete agreement. Thanks!

I was in the office earlier in the week to meet up with a few co-workers. at one point I was looking at my iPhone and a co-worker touched the screen to point out a location on the map. Now that freaked me out internally, I didn’t say anything. But I let it pass. And he had caught Covid in June! I just washed my hands and cleaned the iPhone with 70% alcohol when I got home.

There was a show on several years ago and Neal Patrick Harris was portraying a germophobe. He was applying Purel to everything! I would have done the same to my iPhone, but let it go.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

That George Carlin clip reminds me. Anybody else here still, if ever, abide by the 10-sec rule (or whatever variation of that)? And I don't mean on the streets of the worst part of Calcutta of course...

_Man_