If you aren’t careful, your DualSense can end up getting quite dirty.
If you notice the controller looking a little less than pristine, you can follow this Seeking Tech guide to find the best way to clean in.
Why the DaulSense gets dirtied easily
Currently, the default DualSense features a two-tone color scheme that is mostly white.
It is a lot easier to notice any grimes on a controller on a white shell as opposed to a black shell or other darker colored shells.
Not to mention that the back grip on the PS5 controller features microscopic circle, cross, square and triangle symbols.
While the coarse textures give you a better grip on the gamepad, it also attracts a lot of dirt, skin, oil and other substances that come from your hand.
You can see what a dirty controller looks like below.
Best cleaning solution for DualSense
The best liquid you can use to clean the DualSense is a highly concentrated isopropyl alcohol.
This solution is designed to dissolve any adhesives, fingerprints, oils, residues and other contaminants on your PlayStation controller.
Not to mention that it will also disinfect bacteria and viruses that may be living on the surface of the gamepad.
Isopropyl alcohol also evaporates very quickly.
Furthermore, it conducts less electricity when compared to pure water. So, you don’t have to worry about potentially damaging the game pad.
The solution is also relatively safe to use as long as you are in a well-ventilated environment with lots of air. With that said, the alcohol may cause skin and eye irritation upon contact.
In terms of concentration, we recommend at least 90% isopropyl alcohol. Although there are less concentrated solutions available, such as the more common 70%, these contain more water that could cause harm to your DualSense if it seeps into its circuitry.
If you don’t have the liquid solution, you can purchase a MG Chemicals 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol Electronics Cleaner Liquid Bottle on Amazon with this link. (#CommissionsEarned).
Other DualSense cleaning tools
In addition to the isopropyl alcohol, we recommend using microfiber cleaning cloths and cotton swabs (also known as ear swabs and Q-tips) to clean the DualSense. You can also use a new toothbrush or cotton balls.
The swabs are especially useful when cleaning the tight spaces in between the buttons and analog sticks as well as the coarse texture of the back grip.
For the back grips, you may have to use more alcohol and force to clean off the stains.
If you skin gets irritated easily, then you might want to use latex gloves during the cleaning procedure when using the isopropyl alcohol.
Precautions
Before cleaning your DualSense, first make sure that the PS5 gamepad is completely turned off. Furthermore, you should not be recharging the accessory when cleaning it at the same.
You can tell that the controller is completely powered off when there aren’t any lights being displayed.
When cleaning, you should also make sure that you don’t accidentally press the PS button located on the front of the controller as doing will power the controller on.
Last but not least, we recommend not using the controller immediately after cleaning until it completely dries out.
As we stated above, the high concentration isopropyl alcohol dries quickly so you won’t have to wait too long. If you are using a 70% concentrated version, then you should wait a little bit longer as an extra precaution.
How to prevent the DualSense from getting dirty
To prevent your DualSense from getting dirtied in the future, you should make sure that whoever is playing the PlayStation 5 thoroughly wash their hands beforehand. You should also avoid eating with your hands when playing games.
When not in use, you should store the PS5 controller on a clean surface.
With that said, a good cleaning of the DualSense is recommended once in a while as you don’t want any buildup, some of which could be hard to spot if you aren’t looking closely enough, to accumulate.
Not to mention that you will be disinfecting your controller from bacteria and viruses as well.