Fingerprint Scanners & Sensors: How to Clean Them Properly?
Whether it’s to keep track of working hours or to verify client’s identities in banks or other businesses with confidential information, fingerprint scanners are the common office machinery used everywhere. Fingerprint scanners and even simple fingerprint sensors on laptops or mobile phones must be cleaned and sanitised frequently, especially for fingerprint scanners in offices with high foot traffic and lots of employees.
The reason is simple: when fingerprint scanners are used, skin oil and other potential bacteria and germs will remain on the scanner’s surface. This not only is a health & safety hazard but also reduces the fingerprint scanner’s performance and accuracy. But how can you clean and sanitise fingerprint scanners safely and quickly?
In this article, we’ll discuss how to safely clean fingerprint scanners and sensors in just 5 easy steps.
Tools & Supplies
To clean fingerprint scanners, you don’t need any special cleaning supplies or equipment. The list below is all you need to clean the scanner in just a few minutes:
- Soft and lint-free microfibre cloth
- A few cotton buds
- Isopropyl alcohol (at least 70%)
- Air blower or compressed air can
We recommend pouring Isopropyl alcohol into a small spray bottle to avoid oversaturating the cleaning cloth. Do not use any other cleaning solution as harsh cleaning chemicals may scratch or damage the coating layer on the surface of the fingerprint scanner.
Water is not recommended too as it may cause rusting and short contacts if it seeps into the fingerprint scanner. This is not the case for isopropyl alcohol as it evaporates quickly and doesn’t cause any damage.
Also, you can use a soft brush (like a makeup brush) instead of an air blower, but remember not to clean dust with a cloth as the dust particles may scratch the scanner surface during cleaning.
Read More: How to Clean Laptop or TV Display Screens?
Clean Fingerprint Scanners in Five Steps
When you gather all the supplies and equipment, it’s time to clean fingerprint scanners on your premises. You can use the following instructions to clean fingerprint scanners and sensors on mobile phones and laptops too.
Here’s the 5-Step guide to clean any fingerprint scanner in 5 minutes.
Step 1: Turn Off The Fingerprint Scanner
The first step is simple. Turn off the fingerprint scanner, the computer or biometric system the scanner is connected to, or the laptop or phone. This is to avoid accidental inputs, cause system and software issues or avoid electrical damages during cleaning.
Step 2: Clean Dust and Debris
Before starting cleaning, it’s better to get rid of dust and debris that might be on the fingerprint scanner’s surface. Use the blower or compressed air can to dust off all debris. If you’re using a soft brush, do it gently and in a top-to-bottom motion.
If the surface still has dust after being dusted, you can wipe it with a cotton bud. Spray some alcohol on the tip of the cotton bud to slightly dampen it. Then, rub the cotton bud on the dusty spot until it is cleaned.
Step 3: Wipe The Scanner Surface
Now, slightly dampen a corner of a clean and soft microfibre cloth with isopropyl alcohol. Then, start wiping the scanner’s surface gently in a circular motion. Usually wiping once or twice is enough to clean and sanitise the surface.
Step 4: Detailed Cleaning
Detailed cleaning for electronics is to thoroughly clean every gap and seam. Detailed cleaning of a fingerprint scanner includes cleaning the bezel gaps and panel seams on the machine’s case.
To do this, slightly dampen a cotton bud with alcohol and start cleaning the edges and seams around the scanner’s bezels. Do this a few more times to ensure everything is properly cleaned and sanitised.
Step 5: Dry and Test
Drying the fingerprint scanner may not be necessary as the isopropyl alcohol evaporates quickly. However, if you managed to clean the scanner in a minute or two, you may need to dry the fingerprint scanner. Just use the dry part of the microfibre cloth and lightly dry buff the scanner.
Afterwards, plug in the machine or turn it on and do a few tests to ensure the fingerprint scanner is functioning properly.
Best Frequency for Cleaning Fingerprint Scanners
As we discussed at the beginning of this article, cleaning and sanitising fingerprint scanners frequently not only improves the machine’s performance and accuracy but also benefits health and safety in the workspace. On top of these, frequent cleaning improves the office machinery’s lifespan as electronics generally collect more dust and may experience issues if not maintained correctly.
Ensuring you clean the fingerprint scanners with the right frequency is important. We recommend cleaning fingerprint scanners and biometric systems in offices:
- Once a day for medium and large offices with more than 10 employees.
- Once every other day for offices with less than 10 employees.
In addition, you should clean the fingerprint sensor on your laptop or your mobile phone once a week to ensure it is always accurate and doesn’t encounter issues when you’re logging in to your laptop or unlocking your phone.
Read More: The Right Frequency for Deep Cleaning
Conclusion
One of the commonly used machinery in office spaces is fingerprint scanners and biometric systems that track when employee’s working hours. Fingerprint sensors are also on most laptops and almost all mobile phones which allow us to protect our data and prevent unauthorised access to personal information. To ensure these sensitive machineries always work correctly with high precision, we should properly clean and sanitise them regularly. This article explored how to correctly clean any fingerprint scanner, fingerprint sensor or biometric system in 5 easy-to-follow steps and in just 5 minutes without causing any damage to electronics and internal circuitries.
The information provided by this article not only enables you to enhance health and safety standards in your workspace but also extends the lifespan of the fingerprint scanner and biometric system and maintains their performance and accuracy.
