How do you clean peripherals? (mouse and keyboard)

[Epiclol86]

So I have finally gotten myself a mechanical keyboard and a nice gaming mouse, and before that I didn't care that much about how clean my mouse/keyboard was but now that I have nice things, I want to keep them nice you know? The problem is, I don't know how to clean those and i'm a little worried about water and electronics, especially on my keyboard. 

 

How do you guys do it? Any good tips?

It would be greatly appreciated!

[dizmo]

Iso and QTips. I also have a brush to get between the keys on the keyboard.

[Gegger]

i vacuum and dust my keyboard after taking off my keycaps and top shroud

 

because it's shitty rubber dome

 

my mouse i just wipe it down with a cloth

[Letgomyleghoe]

8 minutes ago, Epiclol86 said:

So I have finally gotten myself a mechanical keyboard and a nice gaming mouse, and before that I didn't care that much about how clean my mouse/keyboard was but now that I have nice things, I want to keep them nice you know? The problem is, I don't know how to clean those and i'm a little worried about water and electronics, especially on my keyboard. 

 

How do you guys do it? Any good tips?

It would be greatly appreciated!

take off all the keys and use qtips, sometimes canned air if you have rubber domes

[Founders]

Alcohol and blue disposable shop clothes. I don't eat food while I'm on my computer which definitely helps. An electric duster could also be useful.  

[Letgomyleghoe]

1 minute ago, Founders said:

Alcohol and blue disposable shop clothes. I don't eat food while I'm on my computer which definitely helps.  

i do... but im not a pig . i dont know how some people get so much food in their keyboards

[Hashiba]

I clean my keycaps using warm water and denture cleaning tablets inside a plastic container, just let them soak for like 45 minutes, I also randomly shake them for added fun, you are going to have to rinse them with clean water afterwards but it works

[Founders]

1 minute ago, scuff gang said:

i do... but im not a pig . i dont know how some people get so much food in their keyboards

Don't get me started on how disgusting some people are. I worked in a PC repair shop years ago and the first thing I did when I got started on a laptop was clean off all the goo on it. Cheetos dust is the worst, among other things.  

[Blademaster91]

I wash keycaps in warm water with dishsoap, and an electric duster like a Datavac for between the keys and dusting out the PC is so much better than those duster cans.

[vanished]

For the keyboard, blow it out routinely and wipe the caps with a damp cloth.  Every so often take off all the keys for a more thorough blowing as well as individually cleaning each cap.  Tweezers will let you grab any hair or crumbs that for some reason hold on in hurricane force winds.  Shouldn't ever need more than that.  If it does then you need to adjust your usage rather than your cleaning methods.

 

As for the mouse, honestly shouldn't ever need much of anything.  Just an occasional wipe with a damp cloth.  Hopefully your mouse doesn't have a ton of nooks and crannies for stuff to build up in or this might be more of a procedure.

 

You're right to keep water away from them but this should never be an issue.  You will not be cleaning the circuitry directly and should never use a soaking/dripping cloth or worse.  The best way to keep things clean is to not let them get dirty in the first place.  Just wash your hands and keep the food away.  You can even eat at your desk and still adhere to these basic ideas, trust me I do it.

[Doobeedoo]

Cotton pads and alcohol. 

[jiyeon]

For my keyboard(s), I disassemble both of them quite often for maintenance checks so I clean those using microfiber cloths and water just to keep the surface clean.

For my mouse, I just use a damp paper towel sicne it doesn't get very dirty at all due to my clean-freak nature.

 

I use cleansing wipes for both often just to eliminate bacteria.

[Bcat00]

Dyson vacuum the junk that falls through then get a handiwork to rub the top of the key caps

[IAgreeToTheTermsOfUse]

I take a picture of my keyboard and then remove all of the key caps. I place them into a strainer and submerge them into warm water with a gentle soap. As I wait, I use my electric duster to blow the dirt from my keyboard. Then I clean the insides with a Q-Tip and rubbing alcohol. When I'm done, I pull one key out of the water, clean it, and then set it aside to dry. By the time I'm done cleaning there should be plenty dry enough to replace them back onto the board. 

 

Mice...I have no idea. I normally just run something small and thin along its edges to peel out the dirt. I unplug it and carefully scrub a little rubbing alcohol on its shell. After an hour It should be more than fine. If there an easier way to clean it, I'm all ears.

[Gandek]

You could invest in or make some type of cover for the keyboard. I got a Ducky One 2 Mini and that came with one which is useful

[Touch My Hamm]

With alot of mice they have a textured surface and it keeps grabbing gunk off my fingers no matter how many times I wash them (really ocd about washing hands) but it still gets crap on it and its almost impossible to wipe it clean without wearing out the texture in a few months...

[TommyTwoPockets]

On 12/14/2019 at 11:03 PM, Founders said:

Don't get me started on how disgusting some people are. I worked in a PC repair shop years ago and the first thing I did when I got started on a laptop was clean off all the goo on it. Cheetos dust is the worst, among other things.  

Yeah, I work in an enterprise environment and when people ask for keyboard replacements or needing their laptop keyboard looked it, some of them need some deep cleaning with the amount greasy stains. It looks like they always eat with their PC right in front of them. Which leads me to saying canned air for loose debris, Iso Alcohol, Qtips and a nice cloth after pulling keys off of course. 

[Froody129]

On 12/15/2019 at 6:03 AM, Founders said:

among other things.  

D: 

[Whiro]

Do you think I should clean my keyboard or is it still ok ??

 

[nox_]

1 hour ago, Whiro said:

Do you think I should clean my keyboard or is it still ok ??

 

 

Spoiler

 

Meh, seen worse. Still usable. Also could be used as a biological weapon if needed, that's super useful.