Do you clean your computer equipment?

[captainbeefheat]

It seems strange to me how not much cleaning seems to be done of computers hardware. Like public computers at University always seemed a bit dirty. Or at the last place I worked. They seemed to have an army of cleaners cleaning all the time throughput the building. Yet they would never clean my keyboard and mouse, that I probably touched more then anything else in the office?

Anyway do people here generally clean there stuff, other then using screen wipe things? Do people use stuff on their keyboards and desks to kill bacteria, or those air spray things to get rid of dust?

 

[mad jew]

I use my tongue on the mouse. It gets rid of grime pretty quickly and it gives me a taste of work.

 

[Queso]

I dust the iMac as part of the weekly routine cleaning of my "stuff" room. The screen will get cleaned whenever there are marks on it, and I do both the keyboard and mouse with paper towel and Dettol spray once a month or so.

The laptop however is disgusting. White just shows the dirt a lot better I suppose

 

[l33r0y]

Air duster/can for keyboard

A little foam spray onto a microfibre cloth, then clean plastics with that.

A little water on micro fibre cloth for screen, or a slight amount of screen cleaner first if greasy.

 

[MK2007]

I clean my keyboards and everything regularly. At home I use a Dyson vacuum cleaner to remove the dust from keyboards. It isn't possible for me to vacuum at work, so I use a can of compressed air. Everything else is wiped down and vacuumed at home. At work I use spray cleaner and paper towels. I hate any sort of dusty environment.

 

[John Jacob]

Every once in a while. Once in a while meaning every six months or thereabouts. I use KlearScreen iKlear to clean my Powerbook.

 

[Queso]

Inspired by this thread I've just cleaned the PowerBook with some special wipe things I bought from a local stationers. What an amazing difference!! I've been able to drop the screen backlight two notches now it's dirt free, the keys all feel smooth, and the trackpad is more responsive

 

[furcalchick]

i try to clean my stuff at least once a month. it could look really nasty otherwise, especially with the high amount of dust coming into my room.

 

[AdeFowler]

I lovingly polish my PowerBook on a regular basis, but everything else is left to rot

 

[phungy]

The only computer equipment that needs cleaning are:
- the dust off the top of my monitor (LCD is still spotless after 9 months :X )
- my mouse, I disinfect it once in a while

The Apple BT keyboard doesnt need cleaning cause I have a silicone keyboard cover. I just lifted it to get a glimpse and its so clean under

Macbook doesn't need cleaning either cause I have BSE's invisible skin, keyboard/palm silicone cover and clear LCD protector.

There's nothing else to clean...maybe I'll disinfect the iCurve just for the hell of it

 

[mizzoucat]

Compressed air is a Mac's best friend. I use it on everything!

 

[Annndy!]

iKlear on every part of my Macbook Pro at least twice a week.

 

[gazelleintense]

I use the canned air.... and just plain water damp on a paper towel to wipe the outside down, printer, scanner, everything.

 

[mkrishnan]

I clean the screens of my iBook and iMac fairly regularly (I can't believe how dusty the screens are at the university... but then they don't vacuum enough in our offices...). The iBook gets it fairly intensively to get the marks from the keys off the screen.

Everything else gets dusted not too infrequently. The mouse gets cleaned more thoroughly. The keyboard covers get washed with soap and water every couple of weeks.

 

[captainbeefheat]

I started to think about this because I saw this on dabs: http://www.dabs.com/Article.aspx?NavigationKey=4294966792+4294967288&ArticleID=3405 the hygiene kits seem like a good deal, as separately that sort of stuff tends to be on the pricey side. Plus a mobile phone cleaner comes with it which seems good. My phone is filthy and might start working a bit better if I cleaned it more, it had a run in with a melted chocolate bar in my pocket...can't get it all off but still works mostly, plus the contract is almost up or is up so will probably get a new phone soon, I wish the iphone would hurry up and come out here!

 

[ghall]

I usually clean my laptop every couple weeks or if it's dirty. I wipe it down with a damp cloth and use compressed air on the keyboard and speaker grills. I even have a special brush to get the crap from the hinge thing.

 

[jaydub]

I clean my MacBook Pro pretty often using some stainless steel cleaner and screen cleaner. I'd say about once every two weeks, but I also carry it with me everywhere so I like it to remain clean and in good shape.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

I use iKlear on my MacBook screen most days and wipe everything else with isopropanol at least once a week!

 

[Eric Piercey]

I bought a little 1 cubic ft air compressor for 40 bucks at home depot which I use to dust out my G5 2.0. It never ceases to amaze the dust that comes out of the fans every 6 weeks or so. Those air cans are ungodly expensive. The compressor paid for itself a year ago.

 

[SkyBell]

Only my screen, I don't really care about anything else as long as I can see.

 

[ErikCLDR]

Yup. I like to clean off my fingerprints on the casing, dirt and dust on the LCD, dirt in the keyboard, dust etc.

A clean computer is a happy computer.

 

[MacNut]

iKlear every 1 or 2 weeks.

 

[iSaint]

Compressed air for the keyboard and other holes. iKlear on the screen and everywhere else.

 

[Iscariot]

Once every month, I gather up all of my belongings and fire them out of a cannon. Whatever survives is considered "clean", and everything else gets replaced.

I know it sounds expensive, but street bums can cover a lot of costs if you shake down enough of 'em.

 

[ReanimationLP]

When its needed, I'll take the machine apart and clean it out, using compressed air and a brush for those hard-to-reach areas.