Now that the Oculus Go has hit store shelves, everyone wants to get their hands on one. So you bring it home, get it all set up, play your device and have an amazing time — except when you go to put it down, you put it into a puddle of milk your toddler spilled three hours before. Or, maybe you just want to maintain the cleanliness that it came out of the box with. Whatever your reasons, we're here to help you figure out how to clean your Oculus Go headset. From the safest cleaners to the proper cleaning steps are, you have come to the right place.
Warnings
When it comes to cleaning your VR headset, there are a few things you might not know. Before you get your supplies to clean — or worse, guess the right strategy — let us help you out.
Do not use chemicals on your lenses
This will cause permanent damage to your lenses that will take away from your experience.
Do not use abrasive cloths
Even if you're not using them on a surface you need to see from, make sure you aren't using any abrasive cloths. Remember, this headset has to go back on your face, and if you use a brillo pad to wipe out the inside, you're just going to make your face hurt from the rough plastic you've created.
Remember to clean your device
Even though it's a preference, you don't have to clean your headset after every use. But you do want to make sure you give it a good wipe down here and there. This will make sure your lenses are always showing you pristine images and you aren't sharing germs with your friends (or yourself)!
Disinfecting wipes or casual maintenance
So what you want to do is get yourself some alcohol-free sanitary wipes. The reason you don't want alcohol in the solution is that the alcohol in most cleaners will actually damage the lenses to your VR headset. This means you'll get warps in the glass or even color distortion which will absolutely ruin your headset. So, even if you think you're super careful with your cleaning, it's best to not take any chances of a drip or slip. You can use these wipes on just about your entire headset, including the controller, but you still want to do your best to avoid the lenses anyway.
Alcohol-free sanitary wipe
There are two different types of disinfecting wipes that should be in your cleaning cabinet if you own a VR headset. The first one is an alcohol-free sanitary wipe. You can find these wipes for about $8, and they're perfect for cleaning out the headset between turns with friends. This way when one person is done using your Oculus Go, they can wipe off all their sweat and germs before passing it around.
The deep clean
First thing's first, you want to make sure you have a dry microfiber cloth, a can of compressed air, a few Q-tips, and non-alcoholic disinfectant wipes. These will be all the handy tools you might already have available in your home. If not, there's no problem. They're all easily found on Amazon.
The necessities
You can find a can of compressed air for $9 and a pack of microfiber cloths for $12, both on Amazon.
- Take your can of compressed air and get into all those hard-to-reach places to knock all the dust lose.
- Use your Q-tip to finish cleaning the dust knocked loose.
- Use your Q-Tip to wipe out the edges of your lenses.
- Use a dry microfiber cloth to wipe down the outside of the device.
- Use a non-alcoholic wipe to clean out the hard plastic and foam interface.
- Use a dry microfiber cloth to wipe down the inside of the device.
- Use a dry microfiber cloth to clean the lenses - circular motions!
- Use your non-alcoholic wipes to clean off the controller.
What's your routine?
How often do you clean your headset, and what are your favorite products to use? Tell us in the comment section below!
Updated August 2018: Updated this guide with new formatting so that it's even easier to read!
