With so much attention being paid to hand hygiene and sanitizing surfaces, we asked our ITS Help Desk, Mike Mead and Ally Dawson, for advice on how to safely clean our electronic devices.
They say they use Lysol or similar premoistened wipes to clean cell phone surfaces. You don’t want to use anything that has too much moisture. If you keep your phone at your side while you eat, consider sanitizing your device often.
Most phones have glass screens, so a disinfectant wipe is recommended. Keep in mind your laptop screen and computer monitor are not glass. They’re made of plastic so you should only use a cleaner specifically designed for computer and TV screens.
Also consider cleaning your keyboards, particularly if they’re shared by other users. Turn off wireless keyboards and unplug wired keyboards before wiping down keys with a premoistened sanitizing wipe. Don’t spray anything on your keyboard or you run the risk of damaging it. While you’re wiping, don’t put too much pressure on the edges of the keys because you might pop off the key or break the parts that latch the key to the board.
Also, a word to the wise: avoid using alcohol-based wipes on your keyboard you might sanitize the letters right off. If you type by looking for each letter, that will render your keyboard useless.
Thanks to Mike and Ally, and the entire ITS team, for going above and beyond in this transition to online learning.