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      Helpful Tips for Disinfecting Electronics

      Electronics see heavy use in the modern world and are also some of the most heavily populated with bacteria. Regularly disinfecting your electronics is an excellent practice to keep everyone using them happy and healthy.

      Prerequisites: Own an electronic device

      Difficulty Level: Member • Nerd • Platypus

      Estimated Time: Less than 5 minutes

      Expected Outcome: Your devices will be disinfected and it will help prevent the spread of germs

      Tools Required: Alcohol wipes using at least a 60% concentration of alcohol (an example can be found here) or isopropyl alcohol with paper towels

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      Helpful Tips 

      1. Remove any removable batteries or accessories before disinfecting the electronics. 
      2. Wipe the entire device down with the alcohol wipes such as the ones found here.
        1. Make sure to pay extra attention to the places on the device that you use the most.
      3. When cleaning a keyboard make sure to get in between the keys and also the places where you rest your hands when typing, both on and off the board. 
      4. If cleaning a mechanical keyboard (Bigger keys that are not flat with the whole keyboard) you will need to take extra time here to get in between the individual keycaps. 
        1. Some mechanical keyboards have removable keycaps but those are mostly higher end/gaming keyboards.
        2. Using a cotton swab and isopropyl alcohol may be useful here. 
      5. When cleaning a remote, make sure to clean between each button as well, as those spots tend to be a hotspot for bacteria buildup. 
      6. When cleaning a phone or tablet, make sure to take a case off before disinfecting. Additionally make sure to disinfect the case as well with the wipes. 
      7. When cleaning your computer’s mouse, make sure to get the entirety of the scroll wheel. More than half of it is going to be rotated into the mouse itself (unless your mouse is based off of a touch sensor). To get the whole scroll wheel, scroll and make sure to disinfect every part. 

      Keep in mind when doing this one should always disinfect anything they have come into contact with, as it takes very little time and drastically reduces the number of germs and bacteria present.