If you have an iPhone, fingerprints are part of the experience and it’s all too easy to get your iPhone dirty with ink, hand lotions, makeup, dirt, food, or tanning lotion. If your iPhone needs cleaning, resist the urge to spray it with window cleaner, rubbing alcohol, or ammonia, or, even worse, to scrub it with baking soda, Borax or other abrasive cleaners. That’s because all iPhones have oleophobic—oil repellent—coatings on their glass surfaces that make it easy to wipe off fingerprints. You don’t want to remove that coating any faster than it will wear off normally, and cleaning products will strip it quickly. Instead, Apple recommends a soft, lint-free cloth such as you would use for glasses or camera lenses. One of those nice microfiber cloths we hand out in The MacGuys+ office when your computer is in for repair would be perfect. By the way, even though the iPhone 7 and later have some level of dust and water resistance, it’s important to avoid getting moisture in the openings—most of the time, a lens cloth should be all you need.
