[cpease75]

I use the store brand baby wipes to clean my Curve. It takes all the oil and dirt off that can sometimes make the screen smeared.

[RoxieRavenclaw]

no matter how clean one is, your skin will still get oily, sweaty, etc.

Well yes, of course. But, um...I don't see the need to disinfect a phone. Especially if you'll be the only one using your BB, and you tend to use it for email and IM's and not for voice calls so much, as a lot of folks tend to do with smartphones in general, I don't see how there's a real need to do it. Also, as long as you do actually wash your hands when they're dirty or after you've been to the bathroom, and you aren't going to attempt to put or BB in your mouth and eat it (maybe to get a better high off your CrackBerry? :P), and you're not going to try sticking it where the sun don't shine, or anything equally weird like that, then I really don't see the need to disinfect it. Thanks to the college classes I've taken in microbiology and virology back in the day, I have learned to give my immune system its due credit and trust it to defend me from most microorganisms that would try to get me sick. And, well...I've learned to try to stay away from anti-bacterial sanitizing products in general because: 1) those products kill the bad and the good bugs out there, since not all microogranisms are bad for you; and 2) whatever does remain tends to be the badder stuff that will make you sicker. Not cool.

With that said--mostly, I clean my phone's screen, since it's the one thing on it that gets the most dirty. I spritz a bit of eyeglass lens cleaning spray on it, then use my eyeglass lens cleaning cloth to wipe it down. In general, the rest of my phone is clean because I don't usually touch it if my hands are already dirty with something. Like--if I'm eating a bag of chips or a sandwich or something with my hands and my phone rings, I'll most likely let the call go to my voicemail unless it's really important and I can't afford to miss it. Or if I get an email while I'm eating, I usually wait until I'm done and have washed my hands before I pick up my phone to see what I've received.

--Roxie

[ever1ast]

I use a microfiber cloth to wipe it down often....I hate seeing the screen with that "smeary" look after using it. But as far as disinfecting...I work in a Comm center sharing phones and computers with 40 other people. Disinfecting my own phone is the LEAST of my worries, lol

[mrpd74]

I take a soft paper towel with a little bit of glass cleaner and wipe it down to clean it off.

[Kathryn]

Since I am as pure as the driven snow, I see no reason to disinfect my BB.

Seriously; I feel washing my hands is sufficient, and cleaning the screen when it needs it with lens cleaner.

I will say that where I work, for awhile our Upper Management people were using Bluetooth earpieces for the radios they have to carry around with them, but they quit using the earpieces. When I asked one of them why, she said, "We don't have our own, we have to share, and who wants to wear an earpiece that's been in someone else's ear?" Ewwwwww....

[Roxy]

I almost sat my phone down in a public bathroom(on the counter)! I almost shrieked when I realized what I was doing. And I surely made an "ewww" face. lol

[waterfrontmgmt]

say what you will...but using a little rubbing alchohol will make your bb feel like its brand new...and there is nothing like the feeling of a new bb!

[ScandaLeX]

Since I am as pure as the driven snow, I see no reason to disinfect my BB.

Seriously; I feel washing my hands is sufficient, and cleaning the screen when it needs it with lens cleaner.

I will say that where I work, for awhile our Upper Management people were using Bluetooth earpieces for the radios they have to carry around with them, but they quit using the earpieces. When I asked one of them why, she said, "We don't have our own, we have to share, and who wants to wear an earpiece that's been in someone else's ear?" Ewwwwww....

LMAO Kathryn!!! Best laugh all night!

[501]

All I can say is WOW!!

+5

I wipe down the screen with the edge of my tshirt sometimes, but thats about as wierd as I get.

[General Lee]

I guess *disinfect* is a harsh word to use. I can understand if us as the owners are the only ones that use the BB its not so bad.

Bottom line is I try to *clean* my BB and use some sort of moist wipes, generally the clorox ones, because thats all I have. I forgot to add how safe is it to do it since there is moisture involved.

It has nothing to do with addiction, I cleaned all my previous cells.

[robchow]

I soak a cloth towel in warm water and ring it so it is slightly damp before wiping the BB. After that, I use a dry cloth to wipe the water off the BB.

I am going to try the rubbing alcohol.

[enigmalea]

Being an ex-school teacher and KNOWING how dirty/greasy/grimy surfaces get just from daily use and realizing that my students were ebola monkies, I have cleaned my BB. I tend to use windex on a paper towel, but have used an alcohol swab instead. I clean it about once a month that way. In between times I use a microfiber cloth for the screen or a really soft article of clothing.

And to the OP: yes... disinfect was the right word. Germs travel in the air. It doesn't matter if you are the only one TOUCHING your phone. It will still gather germs and allergens.

[kickinitlive247]

I shower twice everyday and I work with my hands (means I wash my hands about 50 times a day) but dissinfecting it never crossed my mind. I guess since I am the only one touching or using it. And as far germs travelling through the air, isn't it lonely in the bubble?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[wirelessforever]

I'm amazed at how many people are full of sarcasm and rudeness here.

You are right and it's not a good thing.

One of the things that has really distinguished CrackBerry is the high quality of post content as opposed to juvenile attention seeking that is so prevalent in many other mobile phone sites. I am continually amazed, for instance, at some of the off content stuff that goes on in the carrier forums and the members from one carrier who sneak over to other carriers' forums to attack others. I've been very concerned, as an example, with the antics of a handful of att and Sprint customers who routinely trash post in the T-Mobile forum.

One of the ways we can all insure CrackBerry stays a productive place is to call people on their behavior and try to focus on content as much as possible.

People come to places like this to learn. When the juvenile stuff gets out of control, the value of the forum suffers. It's still manageable here. I hope it stays that way.

[wirelessforever]

no matter how clean one is, your skin will still get oily, sweaty, etc....and that gets on your phone.

No way around that.

A couple of shots of Windex into a cotton cloth and a good wipe down once a day is always a great idea.

[Troubleina]

I wear makeup, so when i talk on it, my makeup will get on the screen. Yes, I clean my BB daily. not always disenfect, but at least clean it.

[LilCostello]

I wipe the fingerprints and screen smudges off and blast it with the air can from time-to-time... but my hands are never that tragically dirty in the first place.

And if yours are, you're gonna have more problems than just germing up your Blackberry...

[enigmalea]

And as far germs travelling through the air, isn't it lonely in the bubble?

BWAHAHAHAHA. I knew someone was going to jump on that!

No, not really. Me and my plastic bubble are just fine. I have Crackberry.com and my Blackberry to help me communicate with the outside world.



Seriously, though, it doesn't matter how clean YOU are. The outside world is filthy. How many times do people cough on their hands before touching a doorknob? They don't immediately wash their hands or pull out hand sanitizer (and that crap is worse for you than washing your hands) before going into the place they were entering. I come along, enter the same door... my phone rings. I'm not going to wash my hands before answering a call. Would you? But it's not just door knobs. It's countertops and shelves. It's the handles of shopping carts. It's the little flush knobs on toilets.

I'm in no way a germophobe (I have three dogs and three cats for God's sake; what germophobe can say that?). I don't walk around with my hands in rubber gloves or wipe off every public surface before I come in contact with it. I do know that disinfecting surfaces can prevent the spread of disease. If it happened more frequently at a personal and public level retail stores wouldn't sell HALF as much germ-X.

If you're like me, your Blackberry is like an article of clothing. It's with you 24/7... would you say someone was going out of their way or being obsessive for washing their clothes?

[kristir77]

Yes I use alcohol wipes! And I don't let germy people near my BB

[kickinitlive247]

BWAHAHAHAHA. I knew someone was going to jump on that!

No, not really. Me and my plastic bubble are just fine. I have Crackberry.com and my Blackberry to help me communicate with the outside world.



Seriously, though, it doesn't matter how clean YOU are. The outside world is filthy. How many times do people cough on their hands before touching a doorknob? They don't immediately wash their hands or pull out hand sanitizer (and that crap is worse for you than washing your hands) before going into the place they were entering. I come along, enter the same door... my phone rings. I'm not going to wash my hands before answering a call. Would you? But it's not just door knobs. It's countertops and shelves. It's the handles of shopping carts. It's the little flush knobs on toilets.

I'm in no way a germophobe (I have three dogs and three cats for God's sake; what germophobe can say that?). I don't walk around with my hands in rubber gloves or wipe off every public surface before I come in contact with it. I do know that disinfecting surfaces can prevent the spread of disease. If it happened more frequently at a personal and public level retail stores wouldn't sell HALF as much germ-X.

If you're like me, your Blackberry is like an article of clothing. It's with you 24/7... would you say someone was going out of their way or being obsessive for washing their clothes?

all good points
there is a point where it goes from practical to ridiculous and i think folks like us are right on the edge of practical
i dont dissinfect so much but i do tend to do whatever is neccesary to keep from touching those nasty public surfaces