While people frequently clean their smartphones, they often overlook other accessories like earbuds, smartwatches, and fitness trackers. When you wear your smartwatch daily, it remains exposed to dust, moisture, rain, sweat, and oil. A sweaty, clogged-up smartwatch can mess up the device sensors and lead to inaccurate health tracking. It can interfere with charging contacts and even cause skin irritation. Cleaning yourtop smartwatchis easy and doesn’t require rocket science.
According to arecent study, 95% of smartwatch straps have high levels of bacteria. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to cleaning your smartwatch. It depends on the kind of smartwatch strap you wear, such as silicon, leather, stainless steel, or nylon fabric. Once you are aware of your wristband material, pick the relevant cleaning materials and a microfiber cloth to make it look as good as day one.

A word of caution
Before we start, let’s quickly go through several routines you should avoid while cleaning your smartwatch.
It’s important to follow these tips carefully. After all, your smartwatch has dozens of sensors, microphones, speakers, and more. A slight mischief can significantly damage your smartwatch’s delicate internals. It may even suffer from operability, cosmetic, and charging problems.

You may face slow charging or overheating, which is the last thing you want on a device that wraps around your wrist.
Cleaning supplies
The cleaning supplies you need will depend on the type of smartwatch and band you have. Here’s what you need to complete the smartwatch cleaning process effectively.
How to clean your watch body?
First, power off your smartwatch and remove the watch body from the straps. Then, grab a microfiber cloth and wipe it on the screen to remove dirt or dust. You can also slightly wet the microfiber cloth to remove annoying grime from the watch.
As for cleaning the exterior of your smartwatch, the same microfiber cloth won’t do a satisfactory job. You should use an alcohol wipe (up to 70%) or a disinfecting wipe to clean the exteriors. verify not to use it around any open ports.

If you don’t have a microfiber cloth, pick up a cotton ball, spray it with water, and gently rub it over the smartwatch screen. you may also get the job done with an unused coffee filter.
How to remove dirt from smartwatch wristbands?
Cleaning your smartwatch body is similar to disinfecting your smartwatch. You don’t need to think twice before picking up the supplies. However, when it comes to wristbands, you need to factor in the type of material first. Most users prefer a strap in silicon, leather, or metal. Let’s start with a leather strap first.
Cleaning a leather strap
We recommend cleaning the leather watch strap with a dedicated leather cleaner and conditioner. If you don’t have this cleaner, grab it from the online marketplaces or a local store. It cleans your watch straps and other essentials like a leather wallet, belt, and keychain.
Before using a leather cleaner, test it with a small part of your wristband. If it messes up the leather color, ditch it in favor of a better brand. you’re able to dry the leather band in direct sunlight for the best results.

Cleaning a silicon or rubber strap
It’s the most common strap type that comes with major smartwatch models. It’s also prone to collect a high amount of dirt and debris in no time. You can use rubbing alcohol with a lint-free cloth to remove dirt.
Cleaning a metal strap
Since metal straps have dozens of links and small gaps, cleaning them can be a challenging task. you’re able to use a toothbrush and dip it in fresh water. Slowly rub it over the metal band and let it dry.
If you like bling and use a gold strap to show off your latest purchase, use a jewelry cleaner to do the job. Not everyone has a jewelry cleaner at home. If you are among them, use dishwashing soap. You can gently scrub it over your gold strap, rinse it with fresh water, and dry it for a few minutes.

Cleaning a nylon strap
you’re able to wash the nylon band with fresh water or use soap to remove stubborn dirt. Let it dry for a couple of hours, and plug it back into your watch body.
Take care of nooks and charging contacts
Charging contacts and nooks are home to dead skin. They are often challenging to clean. you may use alcohol wipes or cotton swabs to remove stubborn dirt. At times, cotton swabs may not work properly due to tight areas. You can pull a bit of the cotton off the swab with your fingers and dip it in rubbing alcohol to clean such areas.
Disinfect your smartwatch in no time
The amount of grime on your smartwatch may surprise you. We recommend developing a routine to clean your daily essentials at least once a month.
Along with your smartwatch or fitness tracker, a pair of wireless earbuds is another vital EDC (everyday carry) for many. Whether you frequently attend a call in a crowded subway or take an intense run with your Spotify playlists, your earbuds attract dirt, oil, and ear wax over time. Read our dedicated post toclean and care for your wireless earbudsand extend their lifespan.