Your smartwatch may be 30 times dirtier than a toilet seat, according to a new study

When is the last time you cleaned your tech gadgets?

This might be a good time to clean up your smartwatch. Pawan Singh / The National

At a time when personal hygiene has never been more important, a study has delved into the kinds of bacteria found on household tech items – and it's revealed some eye-opening results.

The study, which was carried out by CompareMyMobile, swabbed smartphones, keyboards, smartwatches and video game controllers to find that smartwatches were the dirtiest of all household tech, with more than 250 bacteria colonies per square centimetre – or 3,746 per cent more than the average toilet seat.

The study tested the everyday tech objects for the following:

• Total aerobic bacteria count
• Coliforms: A type of bacteria found in the digestive tract that is also found in waste.
• Staphylococci: A bacteria that can cause skin infections, boils, styes, abscesses, as well as food poisoning, and in very extreme cases, toxic shock syndrome.
• Enterobacteriaceae: A bacteria family that includes E Coli and Salmonella that can cause food poisoning.

While many would naturally assume that mobile phones that would take the place of dirtiest technology, the gadgets actually came in second – but are still potentially dirtier than toilet seats. According to the study, a typical smartphone has approximately 100 colony-forming units (CFU) per square centimetre while a toilet seat has an average of 6.5 CFU per square centimetre.

Those with a habit of eating or placing food on their keyboards, meanwhile, may want to reconsider. The study noted roughly 40 CFU per square centimetre was found which is 6 times (515 per cent) more than a toilet seat. Even more disgusting? Keyboards were the only item in the study that showed a presence of all bacteria types.

Gamers will be relieved to know that video game controllers seemed to be the cleanest of the lot, with a concentration of 12 colonies of aerobic bacteria per square centimetre – although that is still almost twice that of a typical toilet seat.

It looks like this might be a good time to give our household gadgets a good clean scrubbing down. Luckily, Dan Clifford from CompareMyMobile also shared some tips on how to do it: “It’s a good idea to give things a good clean every so often, especially your phone as it’s the only most likely to come into contact with your face. While many retailers sell phone cleaning wipes, some manufacturers, such as Apple and Samsung suggest that the harsh chemicals may damage the protective coating on your phone's screen.

“Instead, try turning off your device and cleaning it with a slightly damp lint-free cloth and warm soapy water – but be careful to not get water in the charging port.”