We have all heard advice from medical professionals. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. What about our gadgets? Think about how many times you pick up your phone each day. Do you still take calls by holding your phone up to your face? Your phone is a germ magnet . I set my phone down and pick it up a dozen or more times every day. I’m sure you do, too. How often do you clean your phone, tablet or laptop? I had been using sanitising wipes to clean my devices, but I was ready to try something different. Monos is a Canadian company that makes luggage, but with the downturn in the travel industry, it has begun to manufacture a portable sanitiser for surfaces and objects. The Monos CleanPod UVC Steriliser (US$90) is a battery-powered wand that uses special LEDs to emit a high-energy beam of ultraviolet C light (UVC) that can kill up to 99.9 per cent of germs. UVC light has very short wavelengths that are fatal to germs and bacteria. It is used to sanitise small items in places like labs, hospitals, barber shops and gyms. I’ve also heard about UV light sanitisers that are a small box you can put things in and close the lid to use UV light to disinfect the contents. Those boxes are neat, but they do limit the size of the items you can clean. The CleanPod is a wand, so you can sanitise larger objects and surfaces, and it doesn’t have to be plugged in to do its job. Hong Kong start-up Roborn joins race to pioneer UV light disinfecting robots The CleanPod is compact and light. It is about 22cm (8.5 inches) long and fits comfortably in your hand. It is powered by a 2,000-milliamp hour rechargeable battery that is charged through an included USB-C cable. The battery is good for about three hours of cleaning. The unit hasUVA and UVC LEDs. The UVC LED wavelength is 265 to 275 nanometres, while the UVA LEDs have a wavelength of 400nm. UVC light is not very bright, but UVA lights have a purple tint. The purple light helps you see where the cleaning is happening. The wand has a safety switch to prevent it being used by children and to stop you turning the unit on accidentally. UVC light is harmful to your eyes and your skin, so don’t look into the light and don’t try to sanitise your hands (or any other part of your skin). Monos says exposing surfaces to at least 30 seconds of the CleanPod’s light will kill 99.9 per cent of germs. The instructions say to hold the LEDs about an inch away from the surface you are cleaning. The controls are quite easy to master. The safety switch is purposely difficult to move. Once you turn off the safety, press the single gold button that turns the LEDs on or off. The CleanPod does get a bit warm while you use it. There is a three-minute timer on the light to keep things from getting too hot, but you can turn the light back on after it shuts off. Monos includes a white cloth bag to keep the CleanPod safe when it’s not in use. It is so easy to use that I found myself sanitising all kinds of things around my office. My keyboard and mouse were easy targets. I also swept over the arms of my office chair while I was sitting there. I have a desk phone that also got a good dose of UVC. Then I got up and started looking around. I sanitised the door handle to my office on both sides. Then I took off down the hall (wearing my mask) and started looking at surfaces up and down the hallways. I know these things are sanitised by our cleaning crew, but I couldn’t resist sweeping the UVC light over the lift buttons as I rode up to the second floor. As I showed the CleanPod to my colleagues, they all took the opportunity to sweep it over their own keyboards and mice and phones. My wife even asked to use it on her phone and laptop. I can also see using the CleanPod to sanitise incoming mail and packages. This is a very nice little device to keep on your desk or around the house. The fact that it runs off a rechargeable battery is helpful. Best of all, I don’t have to wake up early to get to the store in time to buy more sanitising wipes. Pros : kills bacteria and germs without chemicals, rechargeable battery, portable. Cons : it needs a better instruction manual, and the included USB-C able is too short. Bottom line : I’m buying one for my parents.