COVID-19: How to properly clean your keyboard, mouse, laptop, smartphone, or tablet

COVID-19: How to properly clean your keyboard, mouse, laptop, smartphone, or tablet

I thought that in consideration of the concerns about Coronavirus out there, I thought this was something you could share with your employees, friends and family.

Now more than ever it’s important to be diligent about cleaning anything you touch. In my world, that means smartphones, tablets, laptops, and PC keyboards.

Now, touch devices are breeding grounds for bacteria and such anyway, so this stuff really needs to get cleaned, at least once a day.
It’s also very important that you wash your hands multiple times a day – every time you come back to your house, use the bathroom, prepare food, etc.

Clean jewelry that’s on your hands like rings and watches, because that’s another place this stuff will hide under and then get transferred to your touch electronics.

To clean your electronics, you’ll need 2 clean lint free cloths. 1 will be used damp with small touch of soap, 1 will be left dry. No other cleaners – no ammonia, no bleach. This stuff will wreck your equipment, if not immediately, it will reduce the lifespan of the gear. Just a small amount of soap, and damp from clean water. That’s it.

First step is to remove any covers, cases, screen protectors. You can wash these separately, and thoroughly dry them before returning them to your gear.

Then, TURN OFF THE DEVICE BEFORE YOU CLEAN IT. Not sleep. OFF. Electricity and water are a very bad mix.

Wipe the keyboards, screens, cases with the damp cloth. Then dry it with the dry cloth. You should also clean any places on power cables and chargers that you touch frequently, especially the end that plugs into the device. Make sure there’s no power in them when you clean them! Don’t clean any of the ports or cable ends directly – don’t touch metal basically.

Here’s what you want to make sure you don’t do – don’t let liquid get into the device. Don’t hold the device under running water! Don’t use any chemical cleaners! Don’t scrub too hard at the screens, they can scratch quite easily.

To recap:
1. Prepare two lint free cloths – one to be dry, one damp with a tiny amount of soap on it.
2. Turn off the device and unplug it.
3. Remove any protective covers and clean and dry them separately.
4. Unplug the power cord from the wall and clean where you hold it when you plug it in.
5. Clean accessories such as keyboards, mice, separate displays, focusing on where you touch them.
6. Clean the device itself without getting water into it – avoid excess water, avoid the ports.
7. Dry everything thoroughly before turning power back on!