Cleaning a Rugged Tablet: Mud, Dust, Plaster and Salt

A rugged tablet can be cleaned with a soft brush, a damp cloth and gentle running tap water, as long as its covers are closed and its IP rating allows for it. Never pressure wash it, never use solvents or scourers on it, and never charge it until the ports are completely dry. Here is why, and how to deal with mud, dust, plaster and salt.

What the IP Rating Covers, and What It Does Not

Start with the IP rating, because it tells you how much water the device was tested against:

• IP68: the Tuga A10.
• IP67: the Tuga A6 and the Tuga A8.
• IP65: the Tuga WH6, Tuga W8 and Tuga W10, including the scanner versions.

The first digit is 6 on all of them, which means dust tight. The second digit is where they differ. A 5 means protected against water jets, not immersion, so the Windows devices can take rain and a gentle rinse but should not be dunked. A 7 covers temporary immersion under the test conditions in the standard. An 8 goes beyond that, to a depth and time set by the manufacturer, and our listing for the A10 does not give that depth or time, so we cannot tell you what they are. Our IP68 vs IP67 guide explains the full system.

Three things the rating does not cover matter for cleaning:

• Pressure. High pressure, high temperature jets need an IP69K rating, and no Tuga device has one. That rules out the pressure washer, the jet wash at the garage and the airline on the workshop compressor.
• Anything but clean water. IP tests use fresh water. Salt water, cement water, chemicals and hot water are not part of the test.
• Open covers and worn seals. The rating describes a closed device with its seals in good condition. An open cover, a SIM tray not pushed home or a loose battery cover is a gap, whatever the rating says.

Before You Clean Anything

1. Switch it off and unplug it from any charger, dock or vehicle mount.
2. Check every opening is closed. SIM and microSD trays pushed fully in, and any port covers pressed flush. Our product listings do not say which models have port covers, so check your own device.
3. Check the battery cover is secure on models with a removable battery: the A6, A8, WH6, W8 and W10. The A10's battery is not removable.

Rinsing: How to Do It Safely

For the IP67 and IP68 devices, a rinse under a gently running cold or lukewarm tap is the easiest way to shift dirt that has dried on. Let the water run over it and use a soft brush to loosen anything stuck in the edges. Do not leave it soaking in a bucket: the rating is there for accidents, not routine cleaning.

For the IP65 Windows devices, be more careful. Use a cloth wrung out in clean water, or at most a gentle trickle from the tap with the ports facing down.

On any device:

• Use cold or lukewarm water, never hot.
• If water is not enough, use a soft cloth dipped in water with a drop of mild washing up liquid, then wipe the soap off with a clean damp cloth.
• Avoid solvents, thinners, bleach, abrasive powders and scouring pads. They can harden the rubber seals and scratch the glass.
• Any cleaning instructions in the quick start guide take priority over general advice like this.

Mud

Mud on a sealed device is mostly a nuisance, but dried mud packed into a port or round a button is not. Soften it; do not dig it out.

• Rinse or wipe with water and leave it a minute to soften what is left.
• Use a soft brush, such as a clean paintbrush, round the edges, buttons and camera.
• Never use a screwdriver, knife or anything metal in a port. A scratched contact or a bent pin does more harm than the mud.

Finish with clean water rather than leaving a gritty film to dry on the glass.

Dust

Every Tuga device is dust tight when closed, so dust is about the outside: the screen, the speaker grilles, the camera lens and the ports.

Brush dust off rather than wiping it: fine dust dragged across glass with a dry cloth acts like sandpaper. Brush first, then use a microfibre cloth. If you have fitted a screen protector, it takes the scratches instead of the glass; our guide to screen protectors, cases and straps covers when one is worth it. Our Tempered Glass Screen Protector is £14 for a pack of two and is listed for all six devices.

For ports, a soft brush or a gentle puff of air from a hand blower is enough. Do not blast the port with a compressor airline: that is a pressure tool, and it can push grit further in or past a seal.

Plaster, Cement and Grout

Deal with plaster quickly. Wet plaster, cement, mortar and grout rinse off easily and are much harder to shift once set, when every scrape risks scratching the glass. Cement and lime are also caustic, which is not something to leave sitting on rubber seals.

• While it is wet: rinse or wipe it off with clean water straight away,.
• Once it has dried: do not scrape it. Lay a cloth soaked in clean water over it for a few minutes, then brush it off. Repeat if needed.
• Plaster dust on the screen: brush or rinse it off, never wipe it dry. The same goes for the camera lens.

When plastering is going on around you, keep the device in a case or the van until you need it. Our Rugged Carry Case (£34) is listed for the A8, A10, W8 and W10.

Salt: Coast, Gritted Roads and Spray

Salt does its damage after the water has gone. As salt water dries it leaves crystals behind in ports, on charging contacts and round buttons, and those crystals attract moisture and corrode metal. That applies to sea spray on a coastal job and to the salty slush thrown up from gritted roads in winter.

• Rinse with fresh water the same day, before the salt dries. Use a tap rinse on the IP67 and IP68 devices and a cloth wrung out in fresh water on the IP65 devices.
• Pay attention to exposed metal: the charging contacts on the A6 and the pogo pin connector on the A8, A10, WH6, W8 and W10, as well as the USB-C port on every model.

Charge Only When Dry

This is the rule that matters most. A charging port is open to the outside by design, and putting power through a wet or salty port can corrode the contacts. Before you plug in a cable or dock the device, the port and contacts should be completely dry and clean.

Pogo pins need the same care as the USB-C port. Our Charging Dock (£49.99) is listed for the A10, W8 and W10, the WH6 Charging Cradle (£79) for the WH6, and the Vehicle Mounting Dock (£109) for the A8, A10, W8 and W10. Wipe the device's contacts and the dock's contacts before docking after a wet or dusty day.

The same goes for a battery swap. On the models with a removable battery, dry the device and your hands before you open the battery cover, so water and grit do not get into the compartment. Cold makes this worse, because a device brought in from a cold van can gather condensation; our winter battery guide covers charging in the cold.

Drying Out

1. Wipe the outside with a dry microfibre cloth.
2. Hold the device with each port facing down and give it a few firm shakes to clear water from the openings.
3. Leave it ports down at room temperature, with air moving round it, for longer than you think.
4. Do not speed it up with a hairdryer, radiator, oven or a sunny dashboard. Heat is hard on seals, batteries and screens.
5. Skip the bag of rice. It can leave dust and starch in the ports.

Signs Water Has Got Inside

If a device has been in water beyond its rating, for example an IP65 Windows device dropped into a bucket, or if a seal or cover is damaged, watch for mist under the screen or camera lens, a muffled speaker that does not clear once dry, an erratic touch screen, or charging problems.

If you see any of these, switch the device off, do not charge it, and contact us. For what is and is not covered, read the terms on our warranty page.

A Simple Routine

Cleaning does not need to be a big job if it happens little and often.

• End of the day: brush off dust, wipe or rinse off mud and plaster, check the covers and trays are closed, and let it dry before it goes on charge.
• Once a week: look into the ports with a torch for packed grit, and wipe the charging contacts and pogo pins.
• Every few months: check the rubber round the covers, trays and battery cover for splits, hardening or gaps. Seals age, and our guide to how long a rugged tablet should last explains why the IP rating is best treated as a day one figure.

The Short Version

Brush, then rinse gently, then dry, then charge. Close everything before water goes near the device, keep pressure washers and compressor airlines away from it, deal with plaster and salt the same day, and never put a charger into a wet port. Treat the IP65 Windows devices more gently than the IP67 and IP68 Android ones. If you are still choosing a device, every model in our range is delivered free to UK addresses in 7 to 10 working days, with No VAT to add.

Compare head to head: A6 vs A8 · A8 vs A10 · A10 vs WH6