If you are reading this blog, chances are you own a transparent phone case. Well, my sixth sense tells me the phone case is not transparent anymore. A few months ago I invested in a beautiful One Plus Nord and wanted to brag about its light-reflective glass back. But to protect the phone a cover was indeed required. So, I chose the durable One Plus Nord Transparent Cover. This helped me view the back of my phone clearly for aesthetic purposes and protect it at the same time.
After a few months, the phone cover turned yellow. And guess what, I typed the same query as you in my browser, “how to clean the yellowness of transparent mobile cover?”. As I was looking for a solution I realized the success of this task relies on trial and error. There were many ways to clean mobile covers at home and I am going to elaborate on the best ones in this blog. But before we begin let’s discuss why do our transparent phone cases turn yellow over time.
A transparent case is made up of silicone. Silicone cases are flexible, cheaper, and easier to produce due to the abundance of silicone. Like any other element, silicone tends to undergo a chemical reaction when exposed to heat, moisture, and other chemicals. Now, are you wondering how can your phone case react in such a way? Think about all the places you have been carrying your phone.
Also read about tips to design a best quality custom phone case.
Extreme temperatures, UV radiations, humidity, and even heat from your device The oxidation reaction caused by persistent friction during normal use, as well as sweat on the hand or oil on the face, causes the cell phone to turn yellow. However, yellowing has little effect on its primary functions, such as hardness and service life. If you want to save some bucks read along to find out how to clean a yellow transparent silicone phone case.
Here are some tips that I tested to clean my transparent phone cover.
No, I am not talking about the television soap operas here but the soap you bathe with. Soaps are made to clean. They contain a cleaning ingredient and long chains of carbon atoms. The soap molecules form structures called micelles that help in dissolving dirt when we wash things. Like clothes, I tried cleaning my yellow cover with soap and water. It did clean the dirt and greasiness of the cover but did not help lighten the yellow color at all. Hence, soaps and detergent were an epic fail.
Now you may wonder if we are baking our precious phone cover, no, we are not. Baking soda is a gentle abrasive which helps in removing stains effectively. I have used this to clean some bedsheets before but it was new to use it on my phone cover.
Mix a tablespoon of baking soda in a few drops of water and pour directly on the yellow part of your case. Use a toothbrush to scrub for a few minutes and then rinse thoroughly. Any yellowness which is caused due to oxidation cannot be removed with this method but baking soda will lighten the color to a great extent.
If soda didn’t bake your case to perfection, try using alcohol for further cleaning. With its excellent cleaning abilities, medical alcohol provides a great decontaminating agent. For safety reasons, it is advised to wear rubber gloves as alcohol can be mildly acidic. Use a microfibre cloth to wipe the phone case with alcohol and let it dry. Repeat the process as required. Again, any oxidation stains cannot be altered but it helps in removing light discoloration.
The last on the list of tips to clean the yellowness of transparent silicone phone cases was bleach. Grab your protective wear and head to an open yard as this is going to be a real chemical experiment. Bleach is corrosive and can cause severe irritation on the skin so put on some gloves, apron, and a protective face mask to continue this mission.
Dilute the bleach according to package instructions and put the phone case inside the diluted solution until it soaks enough bleach. Take it out and carefully wipe it with a microfiber cloth.
After so many experiments if you do not get your transparent cover back, this is the right time to back out. I learned this the hard way, but there is no way to remove stains from a silicone case which are primarily caused by oxidization or UV radiations. You can lighten the color to some extent but there is no way to completely get rid of this yellowish mess. Instead, invest in a new phone case with possibly less silicone content and give your phone the new shiny look it deserves.
You should know things to consider before purchasing phone case.
