Clean mouse and keyboard

[ChaoZ]

What are you suppose to clean the mouse and keyboard with? Just wetting my cloth isn't working anymore. I want to use soap, but not sure if it's safe. Any household products that you can use?

 

[Pciber]

for the keyboard, I would carefully pop off the keys, then soak them in warm water or something of the like for awhile... make sure it is just warm, not hot. Then give them each a wipedown and a scrub to dry them as you put them back on... While the keys are off, get a can of air and blow out the keyboard itself.

for the mouse.. try using a slightly damp rag.. you don't want it dripping on anything.

 

[Tiamat]

Usually 93% Isopropyl alcohol works out everything. For debris, bang your keyboard upsidedown, or use compressed air.

 

[beatle]

If you remove the keys, if you have a small backspace, make sure you note that it's the backspace and not one of the arrow keys!

 

[UbiSunt]

I usually do like Tiamat, and then uses armorall to get it nice and shiny

 

[lenjack]

and slippery!!

 

[UbiSunt]

Not if you wipe it down with a dry cloth after; works good on making your laptop look new again.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: ChaoZ
What are you suppose to clean the mouse and keyboard with? Just wetting my cloth isn't working anymore. I want to use soap, but not sure if it's safe. Any household products that you can use?

Spit, drool, a little ketsup and mustard from the burger at lunch, oh and rinse it down with a nice fresh hot helping of black coffee. Let it set for two days, and viola! Now that the keyboard and mouse are destroyed, you now have an excuse to replace them with a brand-new set. And - here's the good part - the brand-new ones come pre-cleaned from the factory. Amazing! All this and more, only $19.99. Operators are standing by; order now!

Sadly, for a modern el-cheapo-built keyboard, that may seriously be the best course of action. For something a bit older, something with "real" keycaps, you can usually disassemble the keyboard, pull the individual caps off of each key, and wash in a sink full of warm, soapy water, rinse, let dry on a towel. For the base mechanism, pick out the hair, and use compressed air, cloth with warm water, or a q-tip, as appropriate, to clean the various areas, being careful not to soak the keyboard-encoder chip while doing that.

Most mice can be similarly disassembled and cleaned - rinse/wash the outer shell and plastic parts, and carefully clean dust/hair/lint out of the PCB and sensor portion. I'm not even sure that would ever be necessary with an optical mouse these days, unless you somehow got enough dust inside to gum up the buttons. (Perhaps hair or lint could accumulate in the wheel, I suppose.)

I've done it with both, it's not difficult if you are patient and careful not to destroy things when taking them apart, but it does take some time. If your time is valuable, then simply replacing them might still be easier and possibly cheaper. You could always donate the older ones to the Salvation Army or another charitable org that resells/re-users computer parts. (Tax write-off too?)

 

[Philippine Mango]

Originally posted by: Pciber
for the keyboard, I would carefully pop off the keys, then soak them in warm water or something of the like for awhile... make sure it is just warm, not hot. Then give them each a wipedown and a scrub to dry them as you put them back on... While the keys are off, get a can of air and blow out the keyboard itself.

for the mouse.. try using a slightly damp rag.. you don't want it dripping on anything.

Lol I used boiling water one time to clean a sony keyboard afterwards if I could get the keys back onto the keyboard, it would look like you were on an acid trip when looking at it. (Keys melted in other words) Emphasize WARM!

 

[crisscross]

be careful with isopropyl alchohol it will eat up plastic.