Eliminate harmful germs without ruining your tech for good.

Elevator buttons, handrails, gas pumps, door handles: It's near impossible to avoid germ-infested surfaces in our daily lives, which is why it's essential to wash your hands thoroughly and regularly. Even though there isn't a way to guarantee that public surfaces are regularly cleaned, there is something that you touch every day that you do have control over — your cell phone.

How dirty is the average mobile device, you may ask? A 2017 study published in the journal Germs looked at 27 phones owned by teenagers and found that screens were playing host to viruses and bacteria including E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus, among other icky germs. Indeed, phones aren't considered a culprit when it comes to spreading disease, but viruses can stick around for longer than you'd think.

Charles Gerba, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona, tells Good Housekeeping that viruses can linger on hard surfaces anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks. "Most cold and flu viruses [can] survive from a few hours to up to 9 days, depending on the temperature and relative humidity," says Dr. Gerba. "[However] norovirus can survive on surfaces for up to four weeks."

That said, Carolyn Forte, the director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Home Appliances & Cleaning Products Lab, says that cleaning your phone shouldn't be something that you lose sleep over — but a regular sanitizing routine could reduce your risk of coming into contact with germs, especially during flu season.

Cleaning your phone won't require the same astringent chemicals that you use to wipe down hard plastic and glass in your home. Forte says that includes things like pure bleach, metal cleaners or bathroom-specific cleansers aimed at tile or grout. "Never spray anything directly onto the phone, and avoid over-saturating, as you don't want your phone to become wet," she advises. "Also, avoid any cleaners that advertise 'scrubbing power' or anything similarly abrasive."

Apple warns its customers that heavy-duty commercial cleaning supplies can damage the fingerprint-resistant coatings on its screens and possibly scratch the glass fronts, while Samsung has published the same warning for its popular Galaxy models.

Below, Forte shares step-by-step instructions for how to safely clean your phone without damaging it or impacting its resale value.

Forte says that most Clorox wipes should be safe to use on electronics, but she recommends Lysol products first as the brand readily advertises that its cleaning wipes won't affect the screen quality of your smartphone. If you don't have access to Lysol wipes, a Clorox wipe is okay to use — Apple has updated its advice in the last year to say that Clorox-branded disinfecting wipes and other common disinfectants are safe to use on your phone. Or, you can try a mixture of mild soap and water applied to a microfiber cloth. "Soap and water won't be as effective as a wipe, but it may also work to reduce the germs living on your phone if carefully applied in the same way you would use a wipe," Forte says.

You may also want to consider purchasing a screen protector. Not only can these covers help protect your phone's screen if you drop it, but they can stand up to powerful astringents, Clorox wipes, or most any cleaner, as most models are made from glass or plastic alone (and often without smudge-resistant layers that can dissolve).

It might not the answer you're hoping for, but Forte says a quick wipe down of your cell phone with a microfiber cloth is most effective if you do it on a daily basis. "You don't have to do a deep clean every day, but I keep a few microfiber cloths handy at my desk and at home, and I use them to quickly wipe away the grime on my screen every day," Forte shares. "Especially during the colder months, I recommend using a Lysol wipe every other day or at least twice a week."

If wiping down your phone on a daily basis sounds like something you won't remember to do, you could try harnessing the power of ultraviolet light. "UV light damages the nucleic acid of the virus, making it no longer infectious," explains Dr. Gerba, adding that the dose of UV light and how close it is to your phone determines how long you'll need to use it. Good Housekeeping's Forte says products like PhoneSoap, a device that allows users to leave their phone in an enclosed UV light-charged space for a full 10 minutes, are available. But both experts agree that washing your hands and using a disinfecting wipe to sanitize your phone is a better option than using UV light.

Even if you take the time to clean your phone regularly, it can quickly become exposed to germs and other harmful bacteria again. What are the best ways to reduce the amount of ick that your phone is exposed to? Here are a few situations where your phone should remain firmly in your pocket.