And other tricks for getting grime off your computer equipment.

I just listened to an NPR Podcast called “Are Computer Keyboards Dishwasher Safe?” In it, the reporter tells of her research and hands on experience with cleaning a dirty computer keyboard in the dishwasher. She found that although keyboard manufacturers warned against cleaning a keyboard with water, she and another computer user gave it a try. After letting hers air dry for a full week, she found that it worked fine.

And of course, it was very clean.

Now I’m not suggesting that you unplug your keyboard and throw it in the dishwasher with tonight’s dinner dishes. And I won’t be held responsible for damages if you do decide to give it a try. But her results support something a fellow instructor used to say when we taught Macintosh troubleshooting classes together years ago: computer keyboards are dishwasher safe.

Me, I’m a coward. Instead of having to clean a keyboard after months or years of use, I simply buy a keyboard “skin” that fits perfectly over it. The plastic membrane is so flexible that I have no trouble typing right through it. And, after about a week to get used to the feel, I don’t even notice it anymore. As a result, all of my keyboards are as clean as they were the day I bought them — under that plastic membrane, of course.

Of course, having the keyboard skin over my keyboards has made me a bit sloppy at lunchtime. Spills and crumbs simply don’t bother me because I know they won’t harm the keyboard.

I do recall the old days, when I used to clean my keyboards by hand. Pop off the keys and soak them in a bowl of Fantastik spray cleaner. Rinse well and dry. Then put the keys back on — where they belonged. A huge amount of work. I guess you can see why I switched to the skins.

On a related note, the battery in my wireless Mighty Mouse died today. I decided to take the opportunity to clean the rodent — by submerging it in a drinking glass of 90% isopropyl alcohol. I got the idea from MacOSXHints and I referenced it in an article I wrote here about my initial Mighty Mouse impressions.

The dirt practically slid off the mouse as I repeatedly dipped it in the alcohol. (My nail polish almost did, too.) A little rubbing on the obviously dirty areas finished it off. It was tough to resist the temptation to rinse it off when I was done, but I set it out on a piece of paper towel to dry. Trouble is, it didn’t dry as quickly as I expected. Now I’m wondering if it’s still wet in the places I can’t see. I’m going to let it dry overnight.

Of course, with half a bottle of alcohol in a drinking glass, I couldn’t resist giving my wireless Microsoft mouse the same treatment. (Didn’t want to throw all that alcohol away without using it to the max.) And I’m afraid to plug that one in now, too.

Use the Comments link or form to share your experiences.

Footnote: After drying my Mighty Mouse for about 6 hours (in the Arizona desert, mind you), I put in some fresh batteries and turned it on. It works fine!