Your Guide to Properly Cleaning Your Mouse Pad
Cleaning our everyday surfaces, from doorknobs to key fobs, has become a part of our daily routine, even more so since the COVID-19 pandemic. While you surely have plenty of cleaning tips that you regularly already employ to in order to maintain a gleaming (and germ-free) home, there might be some surfaces you are neglecting. When was the last time you sanitized your mouse pad? According to our expert, Kim Komando, radio host about consumer technology and entrepreneur, this should be done often.
Related: How to Clean Your Cell Phone to Protect Against COVID-19 and Beyond
Zheka-Boss / Getty Images
How Often to Clean It
Our at-home computers and workspaces are being used more than ever before, but are they being cleaned with enough regularity? "There's no concrete answer for how often to clean your mouse pad," says Komando, "that depends on how much coffee spills out of your mug each morning or what kind of snacks you're munching on at your desk." Komando adds that, left uncleaned, this can also cause damage to your mouse if there is any excess grim build-up on the pad.
Methods of Cleaning
"Outside of the glue binding the fabric to the rubber, mousepads are pretty durable. They can be cleaned in the dishwasher or the washing machine, although I recommend avoiding hot water cycles on both to keep the glue intact." For a quicker clean, spot cleaning your mouse pad with a slightly damp rag and mild dish soap like Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Liquid Dish Soap Lemon Verbena ($3.99, target.com) will do the disinfecting trick. Komando relays that dish soap is mild enough to remove any unwanted food stains without damaging the fabric or underside adhesive grip of your mouse pad.
If you notice your mouse pad is starting to unravel after a few months of tossing it in the wash, Komando has a tip for that, too: "If it's seeming like the stains on your mouse pad won't improve, toss it and pick up a fresh one showing your dream travel destination—you've earned it!"
