My experience with WHOOSH! — the Apple-backed screen cleaner

Tech hygiene.

Those are the words that accompany WHOOSH!, a brand of screen-cleaning products designed for a wide range of devices.

Since the advent of touchscreen phones and tablets, smudginess and grubbiness have become very common.

It doesn’t matter how spick and span you are. You can submerge your hands in a sink full of soapy water, or squirt copious amounts of sanitiser on them, but the moment you tap, slide, or pinch your screen is when the marks and bacteria start accumulating again.

Something else that affects not only touch-based displays but also non-touch ones is dust. In a typical indoor environment, speckles begin to land almost instantly, despite thorough wiping.

Over the years, I’ve generally relied on tap water along with a standard microfibre cloth to clean my screens. These include iPhones, MacBook Pros, iPads, Watches, and external monitors.

While tap water does a better-than-nothing job, achieving a streak-free finish is very difficult due to the mineral deposits and other impurities it leaves behind.

Moreover, Apple advises against using alcohol and ammonia-based cleaners due to the oleophobic screen coating commonly used across its device range.

Recently, I hunted around for a decent screen cleaner. I soon learnt that WHOOSH! is the one that Apple stores use worldwide.

Each store keeps a massive stash of WHOOSH!, which they use before, during, and after open hours to keep the hundreds of devices that customers interact with in pristine condition.

Given I’m so immersed in the Apple ecosystem, it only made sense to gravitate towards WHOOSH!. So I decided to load up on some of their products, including the Screen Shine Pro refillable bottle, a travel kit, some wipes, and several microfibre cleaning cloths.

Additionally, I also snapped up some Screen Shine refill cartridges.

All WHOOSH! products are reportedly composed of 90–99% distilled water with 1–5% Screen Shine.

I understand what distilled water is, but I was intrigued to find out more about Screen Shine, given WHOOSH! doesn’t list the ingredients anywhere. I always thought this was a legal requirement, although maybe because it isn’t toxic, the company is not obligated to do so.

Nevertheless, I did send a quick email to the Canadian firm to try and gain some clarity, but their response suggests they really do not want anyone knowing what’s in their ‘specialized formula’.

WHOOSH! is a well-marketed brand and does a decent job of cleaning screens and devices.

However, once I’ve run out of Screen Shine fluid, I’ll probably just stick to distilled water rather than waste money on something that is overpriced for what it is. I understand why they want to keep their products a closely guarded secret, but it only raises my suspicions.

Anyway, if you’re from the UK and fancy trying WHOOSH!, the most convenient place is Amazon. Go and grab a product or two and let us know how you get on!