Tech Hygiene, regularly clean more than just your hands

You should be paying closer attention to your Tech Hygiene.

Personal hygiene has always been important, but recent events have made it more important than ever for everyone to follow basic hygiene practices. Everyone knows how to wash their hands, but what about washing a keyboard or mouse? Your tech devices are handled on a daily basis, so keeping them clean is just as important as keeping your hands clean.

Let’s explore some of the safest tech hygiene practices to keep your devices clean:

Mobile phones

As of February 2019, there are around 20 to 22 million smartphone users in South Africa. Wiping your phone screen on your shirt to see the screen just won’t cut it for effective tech hygiene. We would generally avoid rubbing alcohol on your phone screen as it may damage it, but Apple has recently given some new guidelines that should be fine to use on most phones. Use a soft, lint-free cloth and only 70 isopropyl alcohol on the hard, non-porous surfaces of your device to clean it thoroughly.

Mouse and Keyboard

Gone are the days of removing the ball inside your mouse in order to clean it. Unplug the mouse and use a gentle cleaning agent or disinfectant on a soft cloth to clean all around the mouse. Focus on the buttons and the bottom as that is where most grime would accumulate.

A keyboard can be trickier to get a full clean as dirt can fall in between the keys. Similarly, disconnect the keyboard and wipe with a soft cloth and gentle cleaning agent. Make sure that the cloth is only damp as to not have any liquid fall into the keyboard. In order to clean in between the keys, using compressed air is generally the best way to get any dirt out. If the grime is worse than dust or crumbs, you may need to ask your IT or local tech shop to open and thoroughly clean inside. Practicing good hygiene from the start should prevent the need for this type of cleaning though.

Laptop

Always make sure that your laptop is switched off and unplugged before trying to clean it. You can clean the laptop body in a similar way to how you would clean your keyboard. Use a soft, damp cloth with a gentle cleaning agent on it and wipe all the way around the body. Try not to scrub the body of the laptop, but rather wipe away any dirt as to not scratch it.

Cleaning a laptop screen can be a little trickier, as you may leave streaks with the above method. There are plenty of products available that are meant specifically for laptop and desktop screen cleaning. We advise using one from a trusted source, such as this product.

 

If you require any assistance with regards to tech hygiene, or just some general guidance, please contact us. How do you currently practice good tech hygiene? Leave a comment below, you may help someone out!