We have all been there. You’re going to take a quick photo with your phone, and the image looks blurry, so you grab your shirt, blow on the lens, and swipe the camera to get a clearer shot. While the occasional buff with a soft garment shouldn’t hurt, there are better ways to clean your camera lens, here’s how.
Four Ways to Clean the Camera Lens on Your Cell Phone
Image Credit: Pexels
1. Use a cleaning pen to remove dust
If you have a dusty phone camera lens, a quick brush with a cleaning pen or similar soft brush is usually sufficient. Cleaning pens come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some have a more delicate brush end while others have larger, fluffier brush ends. Use the appropriate size and say goodbye to dust.
If you don’t want to buy a cleaning pen, then a to clean, soft makeup brush will do the same job.
2. Use a microfiber cloth to remove stains
If your camera lens is blurry because it’s covered in fingerprints, then it will need to be buffed lightly with a microfiber cloth. Unlike tissues which can leave dust particles on your lens, a microfiber cloth will wipe away smudges without leaving lint.
If you don’t have a microfiber cloth, any soft cloth will do a similar job as long as it hasn’t been washed in fabric softener (softener can leave streaks on your camera lens ).
3. Use a lens wipe for more stubborn dirt
If you’ve handled your camera lens after eating chicken wings, or it’s just too gross for a quick rub with a cloth, then you’re going to want to try a lens wipe. Lens wipes are moistened with lens cleaner, making them more effective against stubborn grease and dirt.
Don’t use regular wet wipes on your camera lens, as they often contain fabric softeners that will make your lens even oilier.
4. Use lens cleaner or a homemade version
Finally, if you don’t have a lens wipe, you can use a dedicated lens cleaner, or a homemade version, on the corner of a microfiber cloth or soft tissue. Lens cleaners tend to be dilute solutions of alcohol.
If you don’t want to buy lens cleaner, you can make your own by mixing a 50:50 ratio of 70% isopropyl alcohol and distilled water. If you want a smudge-free finish, don’t use tap water.
How to remove condensation from your phone’s camera lens
Not all smartphones have an IP rating, especially if they are not a flagship. If your camera lens is foggy inside, it means that moisture has managed to enter the camera body and collect inside your camera lens .
To get rid of this fogging, you’re going to need to dry your phone, which will help the moisture escape. The easiest way to do this is to place your phone in an airtight container with silica gel packets or uncooked rice. These products will remove moisture from your phone in about 24 hours.
While your phone is taking a nice dry rice bath, it’s best to turn it off in case the moisture has gotten deeper than you think and could be causing issues with your device’s internal electronics.
While it might be tempting to put your phone on the radiator or blow it out with a hair dryer, extreme temperatures can do more harm than good. If your phone’s camera lens is still foggy after a night in rice or silica gel, you’d better take it to a repair shop. Unless you know what you’re doing, we don’t recommend disassembling your phone to wipe condensation off the inside of the camera lens (and depending on your phone, this might even require disassembling the camera lens). the camera itself, in which case putting it back together becomes much more difficult).
How to protect your phone’s camera lens
If you want to keep your phone’s camera lens in pristine condition for as long as possible, it’s worth looking for lens protectors and also the right screen protector for your phone to protect the camera. frontal. Lens protectors stick to your camera’s lens glass and will protect it from scratches. Although they too eventually get dirty, their main appeal is that you can easily replace them.
If you don’t want to use lens protection, but want to protect your phone’s camera lens from scratches, a raised case will help keep your camera lens glass safe. away from rough surfaces.
How not to clean your phone’s camera lens
We’ve covered how to clean your camera lens and how to remove condensation under the glass; now it’s time to talk about how not to clean your phone camera.
1. Do not use household glass cleaner
Household glass cleaners such as Windex are often too harsh for the delicate coating on your phone’s camera lens. Avoid them and only use products made specifically for contact lenses.
2. Do not use rough cloths
Microfiber cloths are soft for a reason. The rougher the fabric you use, the more likely you are to scratch your camera lens. This also applies to the use of dirty clothes. Dirty clothes may already contain trapped grains, which can then be rubbed into your camera lens.
3. Don’t use tap water
Finally, while it’s a pain to have to buy distilled water, if you’re looking for a streak-free finish, you need to invest in the right things. Tap water contains minerals and other impurities that stay on your screen, leaving marks or residue that can make your camera lens even dirty.
When in doubt, let the professionals do it
You may have noticed that we haven’t mentioned cleaning the inside of your phone’s camera lens, and for good reason. If your camera lens needs to be cleaned from the inside, we strongly recommend that you take it to a professional. Opening up your phone’s camera case will prevent it from being waterproof and can open up a whole Pandora’s box. If in doubt, let someone experienced do it for you. Unfortunately, condensation can even build up on IP-rated phones, and depending on the problem, the solution may be to either leave it alone or send it in for repair. It becomes more difficult to advise without knowing the exact facts of the case, so we recommend that you let an expert take a look.
If you need more help, we also have guides on how to clean your phone’s screen and how to clean your phone’s speaker grill.
Comments are closed.