If you want to take professional quality photos or videos with your smartphone, you’re going to need to shoot with a clean lens. But, you don’t know how to clean a phone camera lens. And come to think of it, why worry about the cleanliness of your phone’s camera lens at all?
Simply put, the cleanliness of your phone’s camera lens will affect the quality of your photos and videos. Whether your lens is obstructed by dust or fingerprints, you’re not going to get the clear, crisp photos you would with a clean lens.
If you’re not sure how to clean a phone camera lens and keep your them clean without accidentally scratching or damaging them, keep reading. We’ll help you learn how to maintain your lenses so that your mobile photos will be better than ever.
How to Clean a Phone Camera Lens
How Often Should You Clean Your Phone Camera Lens?
You should always clean your smartphone camera lenses prior to every photoshoot. What you use to clean your lenses will depend on how dirty they are and how long it’s been since they were last cleaned.
Here’s some seasonal inspiration for your next smartphone photoshoot.
With a regular DSLR camera, you would probably find yourself cleaning your camera lenses less frequently than you would as a smartphone photographer. This is because we use our phones much more frequently than we would a camera.
Think about where you put your phone throughout the day. It’s in your hands, your pockets, your purse, and on various surfaces at your home and workplace. That’s a lot of opportunities for the lenses to get smudged or dirty.
So, to ensure that your phone camera lens is clean and ready to take the clearest photos possible, be sure to clean your lens before each and every time you plan on taking a photo.
Cleaning Products
You’re probably wondering what products are best for cleaning your phone’s camera lenses. The average smartphone user tends to just wipe the lenses on their shirt and call it a day, but is that really the best way to care for your lenses?
Absolutely not. Cleaning your phone camera lenses with your shirt is a great way to scratch them, so leave your shirt where it belongs and add these cleaning products to your mobile photography gear bag.
Air Duster
An air duster should be your go-to cleaning product for your mobile camera lenses. You can find them in the electronics section of many stores or on the internet. They’re pretty inexpensive but can be a bit bulky in your bag.
Air dusters might feel like a hassle to carry around with you, but they’re an essential tool in keeping your lenses clean.
You can blast away the dust without worrying about scratching or scraping your camera lens. Whether you live in a dusty climate or are shooting at the beach and get sand on your phone, you’ll be able to remove it safely with an air duster.
The only downside to air dusters is that they don’t remove fingerprints. However, they’re perfect for prepping the lens to be cleaned with another product that is capable of removing fingerprints without the worry of accidentally scrubbing dust or dirt into the lens.
Microfiber Cloth
One of the most essential tools in your mobile camera lens cleaning kit should be a simple microfiber cloth. Microfiber cloths are small and compact, which means you can keep one in your gear bag, purse, pocket, or all of the above. Plus, they’re inexpensive and often come in a multipack.
Microfiber cloths work best when folded into a tiny triangle. The triangle shape creates a point that can be used to clean around any nooks or crannies surrounding your phone camera lens.
Another great feature of microfiber cloths is that you’re able to fold it in a variety of ways so that you always have a clean section of cloth to work with. If you travel with multiple lenses, you won’t need to haul along a separate cloth for each mobile camera lens, unless you want to of course.
Microfiber cloths are ideal for removing fingerprints after dust and dirt has been removed with an air duster. Just don’t try to use a cloth without removing the dust first as you risk scratching your lens.
Mobile Lens Cleaning Pen
Lens cleaning pens, such as the one sold by Moment, are another great option for maintaining your phone’s camera lenses. They’re small enough to fit neatly in your pocket or bag and won’t cost you and arm and a leg.
The Moment lens cleaning pen has a retractable brush side for the safe removal of dust. The other side features a felt tip that’s perfect for removing both dust and fingerprints.
Lens cleaning pens can be used with or without an air duster. However, if your camera lens seems particularly dirty, such as after being dropped in the sand, you might want to use an air duster to blast away the bigger particles before moving on to the cleaning pen.
Lens Cleaning Solution
If you notice any stubborn oil or stuck-on filth, you may want to try cleaning your lenses with a lens cleaning solution. You’ll need to be particularly careful with the solution to avoid getting any liquid into any vital parts of your phone or lens.
Most experts recommend using just a drop or two or solution on a microfiber cloth and gently wiping the phone camera lens until the grime is gone.
Smartphone Lens Cleaning Tips
As previously mentioned, you’ll want to clean your lenses prior to any photoshoots to ensure that each phone camera lens is spotless and ready for action. But, how to clean a phone camera lens in a manner that’s time-efficient while doing a decent job is a whole different question.
Taking a few extra moments beforehand to clean your equipment may seem unnecessary, but when you see the difference in photo quality, you’ll be happy you took the time.
It’s important to note that you should try to keep your cleaning equipment in a clean, dry place, which may mean a separate bag or pocket within your gear bag. There’s no point in cleaning your lenses if you’re going to use a dirty cloth or lens cleaning pen.
If you’ve cleaned the outsides of your phone’s camera lenses and you still see dust, or your pictures are still showing evidence of dust, you may need to have the inside of the lenses cleaned.
Cleaning the insides of lenses is much more complicated with more room for error, so it’s best to avoid doing this yourself. Instead, seek the help of a professional who will be able to clean or repair the phone camera lens without damaging your device or voiding any warranty you may have.
