April 23rd, 2024, Christien Pheby
Human beings are a bottom-wiping, nose-picking, pimple-popping species, and our bodies are overrun with filth, oil and assorted bacteria. But if we regularly clean our hands, ears, and other bits (for the most part, anyway), how often do we clean the devices that – directly or indirectly – come into contact with them?
To find out if the nation is doing enough to keep its devices in good hygiene and good condition, we asked Britons who own a range of portable electronics just how often they clean them. Here’s what we discovered.
Mobile phones
Looking at mobile phones, experts recommend cleaning them once per day, but just 14% of the public are actually doing so. If they’re not wiping their devices down daily, a third (35%) do it least once a week – and a fifth (22%) say they do so at least once a month. But 13% of Britons sanitise their phones once every two or three months, and 10% do so at most once every six months. Some 8% never clean their phones at all.
Headphones
While The New York Times says there isn’t a hard-and-fast rule for cleaning headphones, the publication recommends that they should be wiped down every week if they’re used daily and kept on a desk. But just 35% of the public say they clean their earphones once a week or more.
Of the rest, a fifth de-wax their earphones once a month or more (22%), 9% do so every two or three months, 12% do so at most once every six months – and 18% never do so. The figures are worse for over-ear headphones: while a quarter (23%) clean them more than once a week, a quarter (27%) don’t clean them at all.
Laptops and tablets
The Guardian recommends a weekly clean for laptop keyboards, and CNN advises that daily users should aim to clean their screens once a week.
Once again, YouGov brings grim tidings: just three in ten Britons scrub their laptop keyboards at least once a week (30%). At the other end of the scale, 21% clean them once every six months at best, and 8% don’t clean them at all.
Laptop screens fare a little better: a third of the public wipe them down once every week (34%). At the other extreme, 16% clean their displays on a half-yearly basis at most, while 6% simply don’t bother.
Looking at tablets, two in five (38%) freshen them up once a week or more. On the grubbier end, 15% clean them once every six months, and 9% don’t clean them at all.
Games controllers and handheld consoles
Men’s Journal advises dusting and wiping a games controller every week for daily players, or every month for occasional players.
Our survey shows that only 23% who own gaming peripherals clean them at least once a week, while 20% say they do so once a month or more. But 23% dust and wipe them once every six months at best – while 19% never do so at all.
It's a similar story with portable consoles such as the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck. A quarter of owners refresh these devices once a week or more (25%), and a fifth do so once a month or more (18%). However, 20% say they clean their handhelds every six months at most, while 18% avoid cleaning them altogether.
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YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online on 10-11 April 2024, with a nationally representative sample of 2026 adults (aged 18+ years) in Great Britain, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, education, and social grade to be representative of all adults in Great Britain (18 years or older).
Make smarter business decisions with better intelligence. Understand exactly what your audience is thinking by leveraging our panel of 26 million+ members. Speak with us today.