I’ve been sick 4 times this year. I’m currently sick and I learned it happened at my doctor’s office since I called in to cancel and appointment and they said everyone there was sick so I got it while I was there.
I’m so tired of being sick and I have asthma and develope bronchitis easily when I get sick. I wash my hands regularly but I’m going to be way more vigilant I’ve now made hand sanitizer easily accessible anywhere I go. I also read a tip on here to sanitize my phone when I can.
I’ve decided to mask up when I go out. I honestly don’t care if it’s taboo I can’t afford to be sick every month.
From my understanding of most cleaners they typically require sitting on the surface for a few minutes to get their full effects and kill most bacteria. I don’t think letting a cleaner sit on my phone. Is a good idea – how are you cleaning your phones?
Comments
Masks aren’t taboo, I wear one when traveling almost all of the time. That’s by far the best option.
I have a uv cleaner thing but I’m not sure it’s anything but placebo. Otherwise just using an alcohol wipe is definitely better than nothing. Most phone cases can be washed with soap and water though so do that and then wipe the phone itself with something more electronics-friendly.
Put it in a water resistant case, use clorox wipes.
I wash my hands everytime I come in the house. Then I Lysol wipe my phone. Then I wash my hands again. No shoes inside, no outside clothes on inside furniture. Vitamins everyday, lots of water, and sleep is a huge priority.
Sorry you’ve been sick. We’re a house where all four of us have respiratory issues / asthma, so we Lysol wipe down (buy in bulk from Costco) and mask up when we have any symptoms. Yes, we get the few comments and looks, but that’s their issue. We can only take care of ourselves. Feel better!
I use wipes from Well Kept. They work great on my phone, glasses, headphones, tablet, etc. They come on small packs so I always have them in my purse.
Its so silly how masking became looked down on. What happened? In 2020-2022 you were an idiot if you didn’t mask, but now you are if you do? I still mask way more than almost everyone I know. I live in a super small rural town, I sometimes wear it to the grocery store here but I always wear it out in public when Im visiting bigger cities.
I’ve only been sick twice since covid (neither times were covid), assuming because I mask, and both times I got sick from visiting my young nephews. I wish I didnt care so much what people thought or I’d always wear a mask in public.
I use alcohol wipes but not as often as I should. I use the little ones that are for cleaning a wound.
I’m just getting over being sick – it’s been like 3 weeks now and it’s awful. I don’t get sick too often since I work from home. I also make sure to use hand sanitizer as soon as I get in my car after going somewhere. I also then wash my hands as soon as I get home.
I wore a mask the few times I had to go out and I got weird looks. Like I was doing it to help them lol
Homesoap/phonesoap!! It’s a box with a UV-C light
I am gross and have probably only cleaned my phone (wipe it with a Clorox wipe) like 3 times and I’ve had it for like 3 or 4 years. Am I supposed to be cleaning my phone?
I also don’t purposely wash my hands when I get home unless they’re gross or if I go right to the bathroom or to cook. I can’t remember the last time I was sick.
Dealt with OCD for twenty years now and it’s gotten about as good as it’s going to get:
I have a very sturdy, fully sealed, waterproof case on my phone. I just soap it down with Dial and rinse it off when I get back in for the day. Same with my glasses. 70% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle is also a fantastic thing to have around the home for cleaning just about anything, since it works as a mild solvent, cuts through kitchen grease, disinfects, and is safe enough to wipe electronics down with.
Beyond that it’s just a lot of personal ritual. My room is a clean space, I’m only in there after I’ve showered. Do my laundry religiously, wash my hands, and recognize just how absolutely filthy most people are.
This is your reminder than like, 80% of men don’t wash their hands after they shit.
I work in biotech and we spray our phones with 70% IPA to take them into the cleanrooms. It doesn’t sit, we spray and wipe them down right after. If that’s good enough for a cleanroom, it’s good enough for me.
I.. don’t. I work out in a gym full of kids and I also work in an office. If I get sick it’s going to be because someone sneezed on the dumbbells or in my general direction at work. Oddly enough the only times I’ve gotten sick are because my husband brought shit home from his work. We get sick maybe once or twice a year. Guess we’re just lucky.
I usually use vinegar water or alcohol or electronic glass cleaner.
As far as masks, my co-workers who tend to get sick more often wear them and no one cares. And we work with the public, where you could encounter random opinions.
Do you replace your toothbrush after getting a bacterial infection like strep?
I use Seventh generation thymol wipes for sanitizing. I routinely wipe down every high-traffic surface in the house when someone gets sick and, to my surprise, it actually DOES stop it from spreading and getting the rest of the house sick!
When I tried the paleo diet (no grains, legumes, dairy, seed oils, sugar, or processed foods), the most surprising change to me was that I stopped getting sick! Infections would make their way through the office, taking everyone out except me! Unfortunately, a lifelong addiction to sugar and wheat is hard to break, and I eventually relapsed.
I’ve also found that when I eat elderberry gummies once a day, I don’t get sick.
I have a case and a plastic screen protector on my phone. I just wipe them with a disinfectant wipe or a papertowel with disinfectant sprayed on it. The wipes arent so wet that it gets in the ports. And with the screen protector, I don’t have to worry about the disinfectant ruining the oleophobic coating on the glass.
I wash my hands and clean my phone with isopropyl and toilet paper.
I mask, too, and it works! The more of us who do it, the less taboo it will be. But also, I’m friendly and people are friendly back 90% of the time. Most people don’t mind what you put on your face.
I’m sorry you’re sick and that it takes such a toll on you. I completely get wanting to avoid it. It’s so annoying to deal with long bouts of symptoms and healing and treatments.
I hope eventually people get on board and more can be done to stop things from spreading so much.
Edit: I clean my phone with isopropyl alcohol. But, if exposed to norovirus or something, I would clean it with hypochlorous acid spray. It’s not very harsh, and it kills the stuff that’s harder to kill.
You can also look up what might be going around in your area, I use wastewater scan’s website to keep track of it. https://www.wastewaterscan.org/en
Start wearing a mask at least when you’re at places where sick people go, like dr’s offices. You’re most likely getting it from the air. Everywhere like you plan is even better, but some places are higher risk than others.
I used to get sick all the time likely from public transit and figured out it was because I didn’t immediately wash my hands when arriving and wasn’t avoiding touching my face/etc
Ooooh!! Pick me, pick me, I work with nasty germ covered (adorable) children and I have a SYSTEM.
when I leave the house, I put the Clorox wipes on the floor so I will literally kick them when I burst through the door getting home after work, otherwise I forget. And it needs to be the FIRST THING I do!
Open door, kick Clorox jar, remember to use one- thoroughly wipe all sides of phone and case first and set aside to dry. Next, cups and bottles and sunglasses I’ve been holding/wearing and touching all day in between other surfaces. Anything that got touched a lot gets wiped.
(Bonus tip: I usually have to run to pee when I get home after the Clorox song and dance, so I usually just keep the wipe in my hand and give my toilet or bath sink a quick wipe before trashing the wipe if it’s not dirty. Keeps things clean and may as well get my use out of the wipes!)
Also be sure to NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE AT ALL ESPECIALLY EYES OR MOUTH OR NOSE unless your hands are clean. Washed (scrubbed) with soap and water 20 full seconds or hand sanitizer, use enough and rub til it’s fully dry, ensuring coverage. Wash your hands as much as you can, and be extra mindful of touching shared items or surfaces that could have germs on them. I try to wash my hands before leaving work/getting in my car because I tend to forget and touch my face in my car- but it also keeps germs off my handles, steering wheel and stick shift! (:
Extra unsolicited advice to not get sick as often: sleep enough, your immune system needs it. I’m a bad sleeper so I take turmeric, echinacea, probiotic juice shots on work days and I swear I think that helps a lot too.
that’s the thing… we’re not
The mask will be far more effective than the phone disinfecting. Airborne disease – like those that cause bronchitis – are spread through particles in the air that you breathe in. You’re likely not getting sick from your phone as much as you are from breathing sick people’s germs.
So focus on getting some good N95s to wear out. Masking is still a very normal thing to do, and will probably be the most effective for your health.
As far as the phone, I wipe mine down with an antibacterial wipe whenever I remember (maybe once a month).
I sanitize my phone when I get home for the day, I don’t place my phone on any “surfaces” (and if I must, I put it on a paper towel).
I don’t sanitize my hands too much (dries my skin out painfully) but I do wash often (say 3-4x while I’m out) and really avoid touching my face or nose all day, come what may.
Outside clothes are tossed into hanger or hung up in a separate closet (my empty guest bedroom / office closet) before I sit on a couch or any other home surface.
All of this helps a bit but airborne pathogens and a susceptible immune system is the major cause of any bug. I’d just mask up if that were me. (It was for about 2 years immediately after I had covid).
I use the rubbing alcohol pads that phlebotomist uses to clean my phone. My phone has a case and a screen protector on it so the rubbing alcohol pad primarily cleans the shell.
You can use liquid disinfectant on your phone by rubbing it with a paper towel on there. I just avoid spraying into the phone jack parts but nearly all phones are semi water resistant. I disinfect my phone when I get home.
In particular I use HOCL/hypochlorous acid because it is non toxic, safe on the skin (its used as a acne toner), food, pet safe, etc. Basically it’s salt, water and vinegar activated by being electrolytes by a machine which I bought. It can kill norovirus, covid, mrsa. I spray my fruits and veg to kill mold, Ecoli, fungus, etc.
When I get home I spray myself with it so stuff like my arms or clothes don’t have outside germs coming in.
I just dknt get sick anymore.
I do wear mask in crowded spaces. I was always 50/50 in getting sick at concerts and haven’t since starting masking in crowds. Some people get weird about it but I turn it on them why they care so much what’s on my face?
we arent
So here are the rules I live by because I too get sick easily, and have some health issues that make being sick more difficult.
I keep a large bottle of hand sanitizer in the car and use it frequently.
I don’t use public shopping carts. Instead I have a reusable basket the I use as my cart and doubles as a grocery bag.
I don’t touch my face in public.
I avoid people who are obviously sick.
I don’t always sanitize my phone but when I do I just use alcohol wipes.
I don’t wear outdoor clothes at home and I never sit on my furniture with outdoor clothes. Frequently, unless I need to do chores or something outside, I shower first thing when I get home.
No shoes in my house. The bacteria you bring in on shoes is actually insane.
It’s water resistant, so I just wash it with hand soap with the charging port facing down, so water doesn’t get in it.
Soap is way better than hand sanitizer. The times you do it is important. Before you eat, after using the bathroom, when you get home. Also try to avoid touching your face. The norovirus outbreak is because people are too reliant on hand sanitizer instead of washing their hands.
I’m severely immunocompromised from a primary immunodeficiency, but the most important thing is hand washing and staying up to date on vaccines. I doubt your phone is what got you sick, and it’s not really that dirty if you’re washing your hands enough.
I have a hand sanitizer with me all the time so I can disinfect my hands wherever I am (and I do so often — after touching the pole in the train, before eating, etc.). This was very common in my country even long before the pandemic. I remember moving abroad and people finding this quite weird about me. 😅
I also always wash my hands properly when I get home and I don’t let anything I used outside (clothes, bags) even touch my bed. Shoes go immediately on the rack by the entrance. It’s just something I’ve always done thanks to my mom just drilling that habit into me and my siblings since childhood.
I wish I cleaned my phone more often! I did it a lot more during the pandemic, though.
Before I leave my apartment (I work from home so I really only leave when I have to) I take a Berocca. Maybe it’s a placebo effect, but I really do feel like it protects me from most things I’d otherwise probably easily catch outside!
What a smart choice you’re making!
To sanitize surfaces, use 70-85% isopropyl alcohol on a wipe/sponge/tissue. The slight amount of water in the alcohol makes the microbes absorb it. Then the alcohol evaporates and the microbes implode! It’s great to think about. This is why hand sanitizer says to rub on hands till dry.
The best cleaner is soap. It has two poles on its molecule, one attaches to fats and one to water. So if you lather up the soap winches onto the fatty envelope around microbes and literally rips them apart! Then you just rinse away the little parts, clean clean.
Alcohol kills most flu and cold bugs, including Covid. Soap kills all of that plus Enterovirus stomach flu. there are other cleaners like chlorhexidine but they work chemically, and soap and alcohol are effective in a way that can’t be evolved past.
BTW, taking off your shoes and washing your hands when you come home will help with a lot of microbe removal. With that and masking we haven’t gotten sick in 5 years except enterovirus from takeout. Pretty good!
Honestly a big factor in not getting sick is not touching your face, not eating with your hands unless you immediately have washed them and not sharing food. That last one will get you if you’ve got a lot of generous friends lol
alcohol prep pads. super cheap for a box from any grocery store or online. i keep them in my desk drawer, in my purse, and around the house. great for a swipe on your phone or any other small frequently used areas.
I have a thing of Lysol wipes and sanitizer at the door. I sanitize my hands then wipe my phone. Nothing bad has happened to my phone yet. If you want, you can get 80% isopropyl alcohol and spray your phone. It’ll evaporate or you can wipe it off. Most phones nowadays are waterproof.
I’m not doing that at all. I don’t think I’ve ever cleaned my phone unless it was visibly dirty. I am truly not convinced anyone is getting sick from their phones. I think it’s mostly hysteria.
But I do wear masks most places I go and have done so since July/August 2020. I’ve only been sick twice since then, once with Covid. If I can’t/don’t want to wear a mask, I use a nasal spray called Flo Travel. I don’t know what brand names it’s sold under in other countries (I’m Australian) but it’s saline and carrageenan (red seaweed extract). There are some studies showing that these sorts of sprays can be protective and I have found that to be true. I have been around sick people and haven’t got sick, except for a very mild cold (much less severe than what the person I caught it from had). I use this spray religiously if I don’t have a mask on.
I think the nasal spray and wearing a mask are much more useful than cleaning my phone or anything else I cart around with me day to day.
I clean my phone a few times a day with a lens wipe, which is just alcohol. I can’t stand when my screen has smudges. Bonus: it disinfects.
Alcohol prep wipes like the doctors use before a shot. Use it on my phone daily, keys occasionally, tv remotes, etc.
I also don’t wear my shoes indoors, change into sweats and/or shower before bed.
I use listerine daily which I think helps kill germs.
The MAIN SOURCE of virus infection is through the air. As long as you’re not wearing a air tight mask there is no reason whatsoever to disinfect your belongings.
//Person with extremely low immune system.
The one thing masking for COVID did for me was to help me stop touching my face so much. I’m very aware of it when it happens now. My phone… Not so much. I used to wipe it down with Lysol wipes, but there were more fingerprints. Now I mostly keep it in my bag when I’m out shopping and answer calls from my husband using earbuds only.
I wear a KN95, I wipe my phone with either Lysol wipes or hydrogen peroxide wipes at work (I’m an X-ray tech), I wash my hands as soon as I get home, I keep hand sani in my bag and car, I take three vitamin D a day and a vitamin C, that type of stuff! I’m immunocompromised and I’m comfortable saying it works really well. Since COVID, I’ve only gotten sick at large gatherings where I didn’t wear a mask. Weddings, work parties, etc.
It’s my kids that make me ill with germs from school. So apart from completely disinfecting them I can’t do much 😅 I never disinfectant my phone or belongings. I wash my hands a lot but that’s it. We need some germs to keep our immune systems ticking over or we’ll have hell to pay when we do get ill if we live in a completely sterile way.
I just spray my phone with 70% rubbing alcohol and wash my hands when I get home. Might wash the outside of my water bottle too with dish soap.
I use alcohol wet wipes for my phone.
it’s marketed to wipe tables and electronics.
the amount of wetness of the wipes depends on the brand.
I don’t wipe my phone down every day but more like twice a week.
If I go doctors office. I generally will wipe my phone that same night.