Here’s the best way to keep your phone and other tech devices clean, according to an expert

CTV Your Morning is joined by tech expert Avery Swartz to discuss the best ways to keep your tech clean and if expensive UV cleaning kits live up to the hype.

Technology has become an almost indispensable part of daily life, but one expert warns that it can have a dirty secret.

Typing on a keyboard, scrolling on a tablet, talking on a cellphone, listening to earbuds: all of those daily activities can result in dirty technology. Thankfully, there are lots of products and strategies to clean your items.

Tech expert Avery Swartz was on CTV Your Morning last Wednesday, warning against items like UV kits, saying that for UV light to be effective, medical grade equipment would have to be used.

UV cleaning kits won’t get rid of the “grime and the dirt and the goobers that we have all over our devices,” according to Swartz.

However, she did say that some store-bought kits can be effective for cleaning. Swartz showed Your Morning host Kelsey McEwen how to use a store-bought kit to tackle dirty ear buds, removing the plastic ear piece so the dirt and grime can be cleaned out.

Kits might come with a cleaning solution, but “when you spray solution,” Swartz said, “do not spray solution directly on to your electronics!”

Instead, Swartz said to spray solution on to the brush, and clean devices that way instead.

“Make sure it’s not too wet, just a bit damp,” she said before cleaning a pair of headphones and their carrier case, advising to avoid the small pieces of exposed metal inside a case which charges wireless headphones.

Everything is already at home

Swartz said the kits are “great,” but she advised that most people probably have all the necessary ingredients at home.

“The best way to clean all tech devices is the old fashioned way: with items that are likely already around your house,” Swartz said in a post on social media.

She highlighted a microfibre towel as a place to start, adding that cleaning alcohol and alcohol wipes will help be effective for most tech. Make sure that whatever is used is lint free and won’t leave scratches on a screen, Swartz said.

She recommended to use a tooth brush or cotton swabs, and emphasized the importance of being gentle and letting things dry completely before using them again.