YOU may have heard a useful hack that rubbing toothpaste on your smartphone’s display can remove scratches.
It’s the sort of thing that’s been shared around TikTok and other sites for years.
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These videos usually claim that it fills the dents in leaving a lovely shine.
But according to experts it’s simply not true.
And it could actually do more harm than good.
Toothpaste is a polishing agent of course, but it’s not strong enough to effectively repair the damage to something like scratches on glass.
As Xiaomi explains in a YouTube video, putting toothpaste on any smartphone, whether it be iPhone or an Android device, can cause further damage.
“The microscopic particles inside cannot effectively repair the glass material of our smartphone screen,” the company says.
“In fact, toothpaste is an alkaline substance, which may destroy the oleophobic coating acid resistance over time.
So if your phone screen cracks, toothpaste cannot solve the problem.”
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The oleophobic coating is an oil repellent which protects the screen and can help reduce fingerprint smears.
To properly fix scratches without making things worse it’s probably best to go via your smartphone’s manufacturer.
Though it won’t come cheap.
Apple, for example, has its own screen repair and replace service – as do many other device makers.
Xiaomi recommends its customers check out their after sales service.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
