Whether you’re working from home or still going into the office during the COVID-19 crisis, it’s important to sterilize your environment for your health and the health of your family and co-workers. While many of us have been vigilantly washing our hands and cleaning hard surfaces, such as desks and chairs and knobs, our computer equipment and phones are likely not being sanitized as often as they should.
When it comes to electrical devices and accessories, you might be wondering how to safely clean them. After all, we all know what happens to phones when they get wet.
To help our clients and readers stay safe, here are the recommended ways to clean your keyboard, mouse and phone.
How to Sterilize Your Computer’s Keyboard
Even when there isn’t a global pandemic it’s important to clean and sterilize your computer keyboard. The best and safest way to do this for a traditional keyboard – not a laptop keyboard – is to unplug it from the computer and gently pop the keys off.
It will be easier to get in those hard-to-reach spots with the keys off. You can soak the keys in warm, soapy water, rinse them and set them to dry on a clean towel. While those are drying you can use a small vacuum or a can of condensed air to remove crumbs and larger chunks of dirt and debris. Then you can use a cotton pad with rubbing alcohol to wipe the surfaces.
Once everything is dry, put the keys back on using clean, dry hands. Plug it back in and turn the computer back on to test that it works.
For a laptop keyboard, shut the machine down and use a microfiber cloth to wipe down the surface. You can also use rubbing alcohol on a cotton pad to sterilize it. Don’t introduce a lot of moisture – so don’t soak the pad, but wipe enough that you’re confident that it’s clean.
How to Clean your Mouse
Most people click and move the cursor using a mouse. If you use a laptop trackpad, clean that using the instructions above.
As for your mouse, you pretty much touch that a lot. If you share the computer with business partners or your family, lots of different hands will be touching it regularly.
If it’s corded, unplug it from your computer. If it’s battery powered, shut it off and remove the batteries. Use a cotton pad to wipe the main surfaces off using rubbing alcohol. To get into the smaller spaces, use a cotton swab. you can also use an air duster to blow out crumbs and such from the small cracks.
How to safely clean a Smartphone without getting it wet
To disinfect your smartphone – that you touch constantly with your fingers and face – you need to be careful not to introduce moisture into the insides of the phone.
First, shut the phone down. Do not spray any cleaning products directly onto the phone. Instead, using rubbing alcohol on a microfiber cloth or household cleaning wipes, gently wipe the device down and let it dry. Do not use bleach and do not submerge or soak the phone. Even when wiping, try not to get a lot of liquid on the phone, especially near the openings.
We all have to play our part to stay safe and healthy during this crisis. Cleaning items you touch regularly is so important, so make it a ritual to wipe down your tech accessories regularly. This could also include your kid’s gaming controllers and the landline phone if you have one.
If you have questions about working from home and how to improve your set-up in your home office, call TwinBytes!
If you want to know more about what’s happening in your community regarding the response to COVID-19, check out the York Region’s website.
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