Can You Fix a Scratched iPhone at home?

A common issue for iPhone owners is a scratched iPhone screen. If you didn’t invest in a screen protector or a decent iPhone case, you might be experiencing this right now. Car keys or a drop from a low distance can easily cause scratches on your screen. A lot of people will leave the scratches and continue on with their busy lives. Less often people will replace the phone altogether. The latter is entirely unnecessary unless you just want to hand over your paycheque to Apple and call it a day.

There are also many people that will try to fix the phone themselves. We recommend against these methods as you could end up causing more damage.  Screen scratches can be fixed quickly and safely by a pro so that's the best route, but if for whatever reason you're the do-it-myself type person - or are just curious  - there are many unique fixes that people try from home.   

 Common DIY phone scratch removal techniques 

Oddly enough, toothpaste is the first at-home product many use to try to remove a very shallow scratch from iPhone screens. The method is to use a cotton swab, clean cloth, or Q-tip, gently dab some paste and rub the swab or cloth in circular motions over the scratch until it disappears, and remove the excess toothpaste with a clean damp cloth. While there are many people who claimed this has worked on the internet, there are even more that say it did not and all it was make their screen shinier. This idea likely comes from the days that toothpaste was used to fix CD's - and although it would occasionally work for that, do not try it on your phone.

Car Scratch Cream

Proponents of car scratch cream for  thicker iPhone scratches suggest a car scratch removal cream with the same technique described for the toothpaste. This may remove the top layer of a scratch, but can damage your touchscreen in the process.

Sandpaper

Home repairers have claimed that if your iPhone has more dramatic scratches on the screen or even small chips along the edges, sandpaper is the best option to smooth out the chipped edges. They say to use the paper gently and slowly. If you are too aggressive, you will risk causing more damage than you had in the first place. This is not a good method - don't try it unless you don't mind ruining your phone!

Baking Soda

Some use baking soda or baking powder for shallow scratches, saying to mix baking soda and water in a bowl with a 2:1 ratio, stirring the soda and water together until it forms a thick paste, and using the same technique as described for the toothpaste.  Now use the same technique as described for the toothpaste. This is just as bad of an idea as the others. 

Vegetable Oil

Vegetable oil is used by some in the same way as toothpaste or car scratch cream as a "quick fix"or a temporary solution. But this one does barely anything - while the other fill some of the surface cracks, this really just makes the scratches less visible for a short period of time - you may as well just play hide and seek with it instead.

Once again, we recommend to avoid these techniques to get rid of the scratches on your iPhone screen. If you try them, you may be giving Apple more of your money

Let a professional fix the scratches on your iPhone

The bottom line is you should not try and fix scratches on your phone unless you have the correct tools to do so, and household items like the ones listed above are not what you need. For this reason, we suggest taking your scratched iPhone to a local phone repair shop with experienced technicians on site. If you’re not sure what to do, give us a call at 678-851-9926, and we will be happy to help.

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