How to Clean and Look After a Phone, Laptop or Console Skin

A simple cleaning routine

Follow the instructions supplied for your particular finish and the device manufacturer's care guidance. Remove loose dust gently before wiping so that you are not dragging grit across the surface.

If a dry cloth is not enough, and the device and finish instructions permit it, use a cloth only lightly dampened with water. It should not drip. Wipe the flat covered surface gently, keeping moisture away from seams, openings, ports, buttons, hinges and exposed edges. Finish with a dry section of the cloth.

Let everything dry before reconnecting power or accessories. A skin does not waterproof the electronics underneath it, including a device that was originally sold with a water-resistance rating.

Cleaning the device is not the same as cleaning its skin

Manufacturer instructions apply to specified original surfaces, not automatically to aftermarket vinyl or printed finishes. For example, Apple's cleaning guidance distinguishes devices and materials and sets conditions for particular cleaning products.

A wipe supplied to prepare a suitable bare surface before fitting is not a universal recommendation for regularly cleaning the skin afterwards. Check the instructions before using it on vinyl, a screen, a soft-touch keyboard or a coated surface.

Textured Matt, Carbon Fibre and Brushed Metal

Use light wiping rather than trying to flatten the texture or buff the surface to a shine. Work gently with the visible texture where practical and avoid stiff brushes or sharp tools in the pattern.

Changing how a matt surface reflects light is not necessarily a sign that it needs more cleaning. If a patch looks polished, scraped or discoloured after wiping, stop and ask for advice rather than rubbing harder.

Wood and Leather finishes

Our Wood and Leather-style skins are vinyl finishes. Do not treat them as bare timber or leather upholstery: wood oil and leather conditioner are not appropriate default care products.

Keep the cleaning method gentle, avoid saturating textured areas and use the product-specific instructions if they differ from this general guide.

Printed, gloss and clear finishes

Keep the cloth clean and use light pressure. A protective top layer does not make a printed design immune to abrasion, solvent damage or staining.

Newly wet-fitted clear film needs its own settling period before ordinary aftercare. Do not try to polish away haze that is underneath the film or flood the edges to clean beneath it. See the clear-skin guide and its linked fitting instructions.

Look after the edges too

Avoid catching an edge with the cloth or picking at it to remove dust. Check tight cases and sleeves for contact that repeatedly rubs or lifts the vinyl, and never force an accessory over a skinned surface.

If a corner starts lifting, do not push cleaning liquid underneath or add glue. Use our lifting and fitting troubleshooting guide to decide what information to send us.

When a mark is wear rather than dirt

Cleaning cannot repair a scratch through the finish, a tear, a missing section or a permanently damaged coating. Stop if wiping is changing the appearance without removing the mark.

There is no fixed replacement interval for every skin. Your device, finish, handling and environment all affect wear. Replace damaged vinyl when needed, using the removal guide rather than stacking another skin on top.

Aftercare questions