Alcohol Isn't the Solution
PhoneSoap vs. Alcohol Wipes
People use a variety of ways to quickly disinfect their phone—corner of their shirt, water, wipes, or the best option, a PhoneSoap. Some of the ways to tackle germs are obviously more effective than others, but since alcohol wipes claim to kill 99.9% of bacteria, we decided to put it to the test.
Once again, we went back to the lab and compared PhoneSoap to alcohol wipes. Alcohol wipes claim to be an effective solution to disinfecting your phone, so we tested it on one of our phones.
To make this as fair as possible, we scrubbed our phones with the alcohol wipes and then swabbed the surface of our phone again for the Petri dish. We then tested the PhoneSoap 3. We placed the phone into the PhoneSoap 3 and let it disinfect for about 10 minutes. After the PhoneSoap indicated the disinfection cycle was done, we swabbed the surface of our phone and placed it in a separate Petri dish. We waited a couple days and returned to check the results.
We were shocked by the results of the test. It clearly showed that alcohol wipes were ineffective at eliminating bacteria. The PhoneSoap 3 was more efficient at eliminating bacteria and disinfecting the phone*, all with the bonus of charging the phone during disinfection.
Turns out there are additional benefits to using the PhoneSoap over alcohol. Your phone screen has what's called an oleophobic coating, which repels oils from your fingers and face. Disinfecting wipes actually remove this coating,leaving your phone defenseless from your oily face (ew). Alcohol wipes remove that coating and the microfibers from the wipe scratch your screen. Plus, it doesn’t even get all the bacteria and germs off—if any at all.
But don't fret, germaphobes. The PhoneSoap 3 UV-C sanitizer gets the job done, and bonus, it won’t damage your phone. Extra bonus, it will charge your phone at the same time. We think you can spare a quick 10 minutes. Maybe while you wait you can give yourself a facial… you know… for your oily skin. That’s what we’ll be doing.
*PhoneSoap 3 has been tested by an independent, third-party laboratory to be 99.99% effective against Salmonella, E. coli, MRSA, H1N1, Coronavirus 229E, Staphylococcus, Rhinovirus, Rotavirus. It has been tested on actual phones, Apple™ watch, headphones, credit cards, and keys. PhoneSoap 3 has also been tested to be 99.99% effective against Salmonella, H1N1, rotavirus, and rhinovirus using a modified ASTM E1153 and ASTM E1053-11 for efficacy of UV light on general hard non-porous surfaces such as glass, metals, and plastics. Real-world results may vary depending on size, shape, and material of phone or phone case.
