A recent study revealed that a smartphone's touchscreen can harbor up to 20 times as many bacteria as a toilet seat. But before you trade in your phone for a carrier pigeon, take note: You can clean your smart phone without causing damage. Here's how:

1. Take out the battery before cleaning. The last thing you want is to expose your phone's life source to liquid.

2. Don't reach for household cleaners. Clean the screen and camera lens by dipping a cotton swab or a soft, lint-free cloth in distilled water. Use rubbing alcohol to clean the keypad and casing. 

3. Dry thoroughly. Apply cleaning solutions onto a cloth or cotton swab as opposed to applying directly to your phone, and quickly wick away liquids as you clean.

4. Splurge on a UV sanitizer. Break out the big guns with a UV sanitizer, like the Violife UV Cell Phone Sanitizer ($49.95), which uses ultra-violet light to obliterate any germs and bacteria lurking within your phone's nooks and crannies. 

· How smartphones now harbour thousands more germs than a TOILET SEAT [DailyMail]
· 31 Days of Spring Cleaning: Clean Your Cell Phone [Popsugar]
· How to Clean Your Smartphone [How-To Geek]