guide
In addition to washing your hands correctly, it is also useful to sanitize your telephone, tablet and eBook reader, real receptacles of bacteria
by Davide Urietti
The coronavirus would be able to resist on surfaces for up to 28 days. This is the result of a recent research carried out by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), an Australian government agency. As alarming as it may sound, it is nevertheless fair to underline that the laboratory experiments took place in particular conditions and, therefore, difficult to replicate in everyday life. The study highlighted how Covid-19 resists for so long when it is in the dark and at a temperature of around 20°. It is therefore difficult that in reality there are never changes in temperature or exposure to sunlight. Given the study, it is still necessary to maintain high attention and continue to follow the regulations in force in terms of prevention.
The cloth
In this sense, speaking of smooth surfaces, one of the objects we use most during the day is certainly our smartphone, which was also the protagonist of this study. We place it in different places every day and it can host up to ten times the bacteria of a toilet seat. In addition to washing your hands well and frequently, it would also be useful to sanitize your devices. To avoid damaging the device screen, it will be necessary to have the right tools for cleaning works. So let's start with the cloth: it must be soft and non-abrasive. A simple microfiber cloth, such as the one for glasses, is sufficient.
The cleaner
Given the delicacy of smartphones, the use of bleach or 75% alcohol (ethanol)-based disinfectants, solvents, peracetic acid or chloroform is not recommended. These would be too aggressive solutions: instead, it is better to moisten the cloth with water (preferably distilled) and soap (very diluted, for dishes or delicate) or with a specific cleaning gel for displays. Alternatively, wet wipes can also be used. Before starting the operations, the smartphone must be turned off and disconnected from any power source. Any covers will also need to be removed.
How to do it
Regarding cleaning, if you use cleansing gels, they should never be sprayed directly on the device: in fact, you will have to moisten the chosen cloth. At this point, you're ready to clean your smartphone with gentle, circular motions. Once the operation is complete, with the dry part of the cloth - or possibly with a new one - it will be necessary to eliminate the humidity present on the device. Although these are very general guidelines, they are still useful indications for disinfecting your smartphone. iPhone owners can also refer to the instructions provided by Apple itself for cleaning its devices. Instructions also released by Samsung and Huawei on their respective sites.