One of the most expensive gadgets you’ll buy these days — yes, even more costly than many TVs — is a smartphone. And one of the very best on the market is the iPhone, made by Apple, an electronics pioneer.

Our iPhones can function as everything from a calendar to primary computer to entertainment and payment systems — not to mention a phone (remember that feature?).

So, it’s very important that when we clean our iPhones, we do it the right way. If you’re like many people, you may feel that simply grabbing a damp towel and doing a broad once-over will do the trick — but that’s exactly how to ruin your smartphone. To help you out, we’ve put together this step-by-step process on how to properly clean your device.

Follow these 4 easy steps to clean your iPhone

In four steps, we’re going to show you how to take care of one of your most prized possessions. Here’s how to clean your iPhone:

1. Disconnect any cords & turn off your iPhone. Your device should be powered off before you attempt to clean it. Don’t just put it on mute or vibrate. Turn it off. If you don’t know how to do that, here’s how.

2. Get a lint-free or microfiber cloth: It’s important to use a lens cloth or one made out of microfiber. These have the delicate texture to remove dust and oils while gently cleaning your smartphone’s sensitive glass exterior. Contrary to popular belief, paper-based towels can chaff or scratch your device. Furthermore, paper can smear substances on your phone rather than remove them.

3.  Try your best not to get moisture in the openings: The way smartphones are made today, just because you get water inside the device and it still powers on doesn’t mean it’s not damaged. Any water or liquid particles that get inside can cause your smartphone to malfunction, if it even operates at all. If your phone has any moisture on it whatsoever, shake as much of it as you can out of the device’s ports.

4. Do not use cleaning products: Because your iPhone has a special coating on it, cleaning products can mar the finish and even scratch it. A fingerprint-resistant oleophobic — oil repellent — coating is included in different areas on various models of the iPhone.

The coating is on the front and back on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X models. That means products such as window cleaners, household cleaners, compressed air, aerosol sprays, solvents and ammonia can’t be use on these models because they will damage the device’s hull.

You also don’t want to clean your iPhone with compressed air. Rather than remove moisture, the force of compressed air could spray foreign material to other parts of the device,  which is not what you want to do.

Follow the above four steps and your iPhone should be all nice and shiny. Power it on to make sure everything works as before.

Just because your smartphone is all pretty, doesn’t mean it can’t suffer from other problems. Sooner or later, you may experience a lull in its performance or notice that it doesn’t keep a charge as long as it once did. If so, you may have to swap the battery out. Here’s how to get a replacement battery.

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