With Virtual Reality starting to take hold in schools around the world, VR headset hygiene is on the minds of many parents and educators.

The nature of VR headsets means that sharing, especially in schools, is often involved. There’s no getting around the fact that everyone is covered in sweat and oil. Because of this, it’s important to keep the headsets as clean as possible. Think of it like going to the eye doctor. Every time the optometrist puts a piece of equipment away, they either discard the protective cover around it or sterilize it by wiping it down. It is such a nonchalant action that a person might not even notice it. Keeping a VR headset clean is just as easy.

When cleaning your headset, you want to address the three major problem areas of sharing: the dry stuff, the wet stuff, and the weird stuff.

In the dry category, you have dead skin flakes, scalp flakes, and loose hairs. These can cause discomfort and annoyance when trying to use your VR headset. In the wet category, you have your oils, sweat, and makeup along other facial products. These are much more noticeable and really affect the way that users can enjoy their VR headset. Finally, the weird stuff. This is where lice, earwax, and other undesirables come into play.

Regardless of how you view each of those categories, the best idea is to keep your headset as clean as possible and avoid all of them.

So, are there any effective ways of keeping the headsets clean right now?

Thankfully, methods are rapidly being developed to allow for quick and easy cleaning of the headsets. Both Oculus Rift and Samsung VR have made major progress in facilitating the ease in cleaning by creating removable face foam. This allows the user to easily clean the headset device without losing the comfort of the foam padding around their face.

Virtual Reality users also have the option of purchasing VR headset hygiene masks. You can buy any number of masks, ranging from 10 to 100, with a pretty low price point for each. They can be found easily on Amazon or eBay.

Finally, a good old fashioned wipe down. This will help keep any common infectious diseases from spreading through the headset.

1. Use a microfiber cloth to wipe down the surfaces that come into contact, as well as the lenses.
2. Use a non-alcoholic anti bacterial wipe in between users, switching to an alcoholic anti bacterial wipe after about 10-15 users. This is because the residue from the alcoholic wipes can be harsh on some users’ skin.
3. Keep a can of compressed air on hand to blow out dust and other particles that might accumulate within the headset.

Using these methods, your VR headset should remain very hygienic while also remaining in great shape.