iClean my iPod

I've had this iPod Nano that I had won as runner up of the TCS IT Wiz a few years back (along with a load of other goodies that would take more than a page to list). Getting back to topic, the iPod is notoriously infamous (no matter what the model or colour) for being a scratch magnet. No matter what they change, Apple never quite seem to reduce the scratchability factor. They don’t seem to understand that an iPod can and will end up in one’s pocket along with the car keys someday. As a high ranking Apple official once put it when someone complained about how easy it was to mess the surface up - “You put it in your pocket with your car keys?” Now that isn’t exactly a crime!


Just as the “i” has given scope for numerous accessories, so too has this led to a market chock full of iPod cleaning products. Ranging from snap-on cases to skins to cleaning solutions to screen protectors. There are even a few homegrown ideas one can try out if your iPod gets desperately dirty. One of them involves using toothpaste. Toothpaste is mildly abrasive and it supposedly “evens out the rest of the surface so that the scratches are invisible”, according to the proponent of this innovative method. There was another bright soul who suggested online that one use Brasso or an equivalent Brass Polish to clean the scratched surface.

Now I, meanwhile, had a much simpler solution to the problem with the front face getting scratched. You see the iPods come with a thin peel-off film when you take them from the new box. Now what most people do with such films is peel them off the moment they get such electronic devices and then go “Wow, look how shiny it is”- for as long as they can, because its obviously not going to stay that way for long. On the other hand, I had left that cover on my black Nano for the last 2 years, I’d barely entertained the thought of taking it off – knowing very well the issue of the itchy iPod.

The back however, being made of shiny metal, didn’t have any sort of protective covering. SO it had had its fair share of brushes and looked like a rather scratched mirror. NO amount of Brasso or toothpaste could set that right. I did recently get myself a Philips mp3 player cleaning kit. It contained a thin microfiber pouch, a fixer/cleaner, a cleaning liquid, and a protective film. I also got myself an iVak Scratch free case for the Nano with a rubberized red exterior (went well with the black iPod). Emboldened by these new tools at my disposal, I set about finally removing the printed film which had in the course of time stuck quite firmly to the player. After some gentle coaxing, it came off to reveal a wonderful, shiny black surface and a perfect blemish-less screen underneath (shown in the picture above).

Wasting no time, I put three drops on the microfiber pouch and cleaned the front and back thoroughly. I must say the results are quite good, if not brilliant. Then after having stuck the supplied film to the screen to protect it from scratches, I snapped on the case. Voila – there was my snazzy “new” iPod in a refreshing Red-And-Black (no political affiliations here) combo!