How often do you clean your keyboard? Do you even remember the last time you scoured away at the keys? Well, you’ll be fascinated to know that according to an article in the Daily Mail rats run rampant across keyboards at night. Yes, they eat the crumbs your snacking has left behind, and then they leave behind some presents of their own – droppings.
I bet you don’t think twice about licking your fingers of chocolate while typing merrily away on your keyboard do you? Well, another article in the Sun says that swabs taken in a London office found dangerous bacteria such as e.coli and coliforms lurking in computer keyboards.
The same article went on to show that some keyboards are actually dirtier than a toilet. And while we wouldn’t think twice about tapping away at our keyboards, we would object to swilling our hands around in the loo.
So how do you get a keyboard that won’t infect you with some deadly bacteria, or quietly simmer away at creating its own terrifying ecosystem? Well, there are some fabulous ways of keeping both your laptop and peripheral keyboards clean.
I guess I would be stating the obvious when I say that you should only attempt any of the following th
ings once your laptop and computer have been powered down and unplugged.
With a laptop you can, in some cases, take the individual keys off but unless you’re feeling particularly brave I wouldn’t recommend this course of action. You can do it, but be utterly positive you can put them back on.
The site How To Clean Stuff.net has a complete walkthrough on how to clean a laptop keyboard with or without having removed the keys. I recommend giving it a good read before ploughing ahead.
Computing Net also has a step-by-step guide to cleaning a laptop keyboard that’s very simple and easy to follow, however, it does expect you to take off all the keys. I recommend creating a key map on a separate piece of paper so you remember where each key goes. Try not to lose any essential pieces!
Other great sites to visit for step-by-step illustrated instructions on how to clean a peripheral keyboard are Help With PCs.com and WikiHow. They talk you through the process from start to finish and tell you exactly what you need. I am now typing away at my keyboard with deep terror and suspicion. I may have to go and get bacterial spray in a minute!
The basic ingredients you seem to need, no matter which type of keyboard you are cleaning, are compressed air, cotton swabs, isopropyl alcohol (or equivalent) and a flat tip screwdriver.
If you embark on a monster keyboard cleaning expedition be sure to let me know how it went. Hey, why not send in photos so I can see if yours is any dirtier than mine!