Think before you bathe

[Annie_N]

Many of us will already have worked this one out, but it's as well not to use your phone in the bath while it's connected to the charger. Actually, it's probably not the best idea to use it in the bath, even when it isn't connected to the charger, as it may not prove to be as waterproof as you hope.

From The Guardian

[BandOfBrothers]

Any loss of life is sad but in those circumstances where common sense should have prevailed is awful.  

My phone is ip68 certified but I still wouldn't take it into the bathroom. It's not just the water but steam too. 

I read on another forum where a person chooses to regular dunk their phone in a wash basin to clean it !

[Annie_N]

A few years back now, I posted a link to an article about exactly how dirty the average mobile phone is, and the organisms that might inhabit it. It was a pretty distressing article, and I had to resist the temptation to lather my phone with soap and run it under the hot tap.

It was a pretty basic early smartphone, and certainly wouldn't have survived the treatment, but the article did make me think twice about using my phone while cooking - and, of course, the steam associated with cooking isn't great news, either, though I don't think any of my phones have actually suffered steam damage.

[BandOfBrothers]

One of the early bits of advice when affixing a screen shield was to run the shower / bath and then carry out the fixing in the bathroom as the dust would have been dampened down by the steam. 

Even I did this not really thinking of the effects that steam can do inside the early phones that were in no way waterproofed or indeed the modern ones today that also are not. 

I use a micro fibre cloth cloth that I replace every month. 

Unfortunately the trend of taking your phone everywhere and I mean everywhere phones can indeed pick up all sorts of grime and bugs. 

[notnowbernard]

i am like you - water and electrics do not go - full stop.

[Annie_N]

'xactly so!

And welcome to the Forum!

[hrym]

I was gobsmacked that the coroner was going to write to Apple to suggest they put a warning on the device/charger.   Really?   Have we gone stark staring bonkers?   I mean, I know we're all looking for someone else to blame for our misfortunes - preferably Social Services - but shouldn't some commonsense be part of basic life?  Maybe everything should come with a large sticker saying DON'T BE AN IDIOT!

Yes, there's a reason why we don't have electric sockets in bathrooms, though I've stayed in French houses and they do - unshuttered and right under the light switch, where you're totally unlikely to stick your fingers in it, bleary, in the dark!

Dirty phones have been a thing for years.  Phone sanitising used to be a thing - there's a joke about it in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and my father used to use a service called Phonotas.  With our current obsession with cleanliness, why has it died out?

If you must charge in the bath, I suppose you could use a portable charger, though I wouldn't fancy being on the end of the kind of current they can deliver if shorted.  Even that could be enough to kill you.

[jeffkinn]

Phonotas!! Blimey that brings back memories.

[Theakstone]

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@BandOfBrothers wrote:

Any loss of life is sad but in those circumstances where common sense should have prevailed is awful.  

Unfortunately, in my experience, sense is not very common. 

However as you say it is very sad. 

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[jeffkinn]

The terrible idiocy of the poor person who died is beyond belief. Phones are meant to be very dirty and I read that beards are equally horrible. I'd better shave and ditch the phone.

There's a reason why there are no plugs in British bathrooms and this story is why.