An fiber optical connector contains a very thin strand of glass which makes the fiber very strong and at the same time very delicate. Due to these attributes you should be very careful when handling the cable. When handling the cables you should always ensure that you wear gloves or finger cots. This is to avoid transferring oil or dust particles which can damage the fiber or contaminate the fiber optical connector. When picking a device that has the fiber you shouldn't use the fiber pigtail to pick up the device; you should always keep both the device and the fiber optical connector together in your hands. You should never allow knots to develop in the fiber. If you notice the knots you should carefully work out the tangles. You should avoid pulling the cable as pulling it will cause knots to tighten and may exceed the minimum bend radius thus provoking the cable to break. Cleaning the fibers As rule of thumb you should always follow the ESD precautions and approved fiber cleaning procedures. You should note that if you have just bought the cable, you need to clean it for it to start working. When cleaning the bulkhead mating adapter pair you should first clean the mating adapter. While it's good to clean the adapter, you don't have to do it if the adapter has been used with clean, defect free fiber optical connector. You should also avoid cleaning it if it's always capped when not in use. If the adapters are dirty, there are two ways in which you can clean them: using compressed air and using lint-free swab. Compressed air method: you should aim away from the adapter and then release a short blast of compressed air in order to remove any dust particles that might be inside the nozzle. For ideal results you should use three or four short blasts. Lint-free swab method: you should lightly press and turn the swab in order to clean the ferrule face. Once you have used the swab you should dispose it; you shouldn't reuse it. Another important part of the fibers that you need to clean is the fiber optical connector . For ideal results you should use a wet swab. You should dampen the swab with alcohol and then firmly press it to the tip of the ferrule. You should clean the ferrule until it's thoroughly clean. After finishing you should dispose the swab. To avoid damaging the fiber optical connector you should use 99% pure isopropyl alcohol.