Guess what? The dirtiest area in the office is YOUR DESK.
Well, not your desk in particular – we mean everyone’s desk. Even the cleanest, most fastidious worker in the office is all but guaranteed to be harbouring a googleplex of germs on the surfaces they work at.
The phone on your desk is microbial ground zero. It gets bombarded with spit, hands, makeup and food, and rarely gets a wipe down from its primary user (thank goodness for your office cleaners, eh?!).
And your keyboard? Riddled with dust, dirt, dead skin, crumbs, hairs – and that’s the least offensive stuff.
But if there’s one little device that always escapes suspicion, it’s the computer mouse. That little pointer-and-clicker is one of the trickiest things to clean. That’s not a lot of help when you spend most of your day clutching it…
All those nooks and crannies in the plastic seams of your mouse get clogged with dead skin, skin oils, makeup, moisturiser, dirt, and whatever else is lurking in the office.
When you take a closer look, it’s pretty grim.
A crucial part of running a successful office is making sure your employees feel comfortable, happy and supported. So, having a clean place to work (with clean desks and equipment to use) is pretty high up on the list of office essentials. It’ll keep your team healthier from the reduction in germs, and help reduce the spread of illness come winter. Plus – it’s just nice to come and work in a clean environment.
In this post, we’ll be explaining how to clean an optical mouse like an office cleaning professional – using some special techniques you might not have thought of before! Keeping your mouse clean doesn’t just prevent germs and dirt building up on your hands; it also makes the mouse work better. When dirt, skin and oils build up on the feet of the mouse, it becomes uneven. This makes it track erratically, and it can seem as if the mouse is broken.
To avoid paying out for new mice every few months, make sure they’re getting a thorough clean first!
How to clean an optical computer mouse: what you’ll need
- Cotton buds
- Rubbing alcohol
- Toothpicks
- A simple cloth
1. Disconnect the mouse – or risk clicking on things by mistake!
First, disconnect your mouse. If it’s wireless, turn it off or remove the battery. If it’s wired, just unplug it.
2. Flip it over to clean the underside
Next, turn the mouse upside down to check its feet. These are often the first parts of the mouse to collect dirt and grime, and this can cause malfunctions when the optical mouse sensor can’t read a level surface.
Dip your cotton bud into a small amount of rubbing alcohol, and use it to gently clean any gunky fluff off the feet.
If your mouse is particularly grubby, use the toothpick to very carefully remove additional debris from around the edges of the rubber feet, taking care not to damage them as you clean.
Now it’s time to clean your mouse’s sensor. This is the central area, which shines the red light when the mouse is connected. The sensor assembly tells the computer how the mouse is moving – so it’s important to clean it for accurate clicks!
Dip a clean cotton bud into rubbing alcohol, and gently clean the sensor lens, without rubbing or pressing too hard.
To finish cleaning the underside of the mouse, use a simple lint-free cloth to give it one final wipe down.
3. Clean the top and sides
Now it’s time to clean the top of your mouse – the bit you’ll be well acquainted with. See all the caps, nooks and crannies, by the buttons and the sides? They’re probably loaded with gunk!
To clear it out, use a toothpick to very gently remove dirt and dust from between the buttons and along the seams in the mouse’s design.
Finally, use a cloth to carefully wipe off any surface dirt or grime. Apply a small squirt of antibacterial spray to the cloth before wiping the mouse, to zap away any surviving germs (do not spray directly onto the mouse, and take care that the cloth you use isn’t sodden).
4. Reconnect your mouse
There you go – plug your mouse back in (or turn it back on if it’s wireless) and it’s all done!
Looking for more office cleaning tips? Read more here – How to Clean Office Equipment: the Ultimate Guide.
Get professional, reliable office cleaning – for more than just your computer mouse
The Abbey Cleaning Service gives you professional office cleaning in Cardiff, with specialist cleaning knowledge and experience. Call 029 2067 9323 today to get an office cleaning schedule that works for you.
