Are you guilty? A recent study by 11mark found that 75 percent of Americans use their smartphone while on the toilet. People admitted to texting, browsing the Web and 1 in 5 men admitted to even calling into business meetings while in loo. Simply put, our phones are dirty. And the creators of PhoneSoap wants to put a stop to it.
Mobile phones can carry nearly 500 times more bacteria than a toilet seat and 18 times more than the toilet handle. Perhaps even worse, 1 in 6 phones have traces of E. coli bacteria from fecal matter. And let’s not forget the nearly 20 percent of people who have actually dropped their phones in the toilet.
Inventor Wesley LaPorte came up with the idea for PhoneSoap while in the cancer research lab at his school. After noticing how UC-V light was being used for sanitation purposes, LaPorte realized he could use the technology found in hospitals and clean rooms around the world and use it to sanitize phones without the use of liquid or heat.
The PhoneSoap box surrounds a phone with this light for 3-5 minutes at a time, enough to sanitize it (the device also charges most phones). The fundraising goal on the PhoneSoap’s Kickstarter page is set for $18,000 -- if LaPorte and his three partners reach it, they say PhoneSoap could be sold at a $40 price point. They've currently raised a little over $15,000 with 20 days to go.
PhoneSoap’s creators claim you’ll be hearing a lot more of them: “Keep your eyes peeled for our viral video campaigns that will be used to launch PhoneSoap to the public. I mean seriously, what type of videos would you make to get the point across that your phone probably has fecal matter on it?”