One item that often gets over looked in an office is the humble keyboard. Monitors, desk and chairs all get a thorough going over once a while but keyboards always seem to miss the cleaning boat. Improper keyboard cleaning can also cause serious damage to your keyboards. One company, that shall remain nameless, employed people to clean their workstations specifically once per quarter. To on-lookers horror, the cleaners began cleaning the keyboards by banging them on the tables to get the dust and debris out. If ever there was a way not to clean keyboards that would be it. Unfortunately, the company and its employees remain oblivious of this obvious cleaning error and practice this technique themselves.
With cleaning practices like this, it’s no wonder people go through so many keyboards. You wouldn’t bang your hard drive on the table would you? Keyboards may not look it but they are sensitive pieces of equipment and need to be treated with as much care as the rest of your computer whether in the office or at home. Don’t waste company profits on the replacement of all your keyboards every year.
Ensure your cleaning company is a professional business with this knowledge at the forefront of their minds when cleaning office workstations including electrical equipment. If your keyboard needs a top up clean a bit early you can top it up yourself with the right care and attention. Firstly you should ensure you complete your keyboard cleaning while the computer is turned off. It’s simply not good enough to not be logged in whilst cleaning. Next turn your keyboard over and allow the dust and crumbs from last weeks lunch to fall onto the table. Do NOT bang your keyboard! Give it a light shake if you feel the need but remember to be gentle. A deep and thorough clean will be on the way with a professional cleaning company so all you need to do is a top up.
Next use a dry cloth or a cloth damp with special computer cleaning fluid to wipe your keyboard surface. Do not use water or soap to clean your keyboard or you will quickly discover it no longer works at all. For stubborn marks use a slight dab of alcohol on the cloth. Never apply fluids directly onto the keyboard, always apply them to the cloth only.
If you used computer cleaning fluid or alcohol you will need to wait for it to completely dry before you use it again. It is recommended to wait 24 hours after fluid cleaning before attempting to connect your keyboard again. If you power up too early, it will severely damage the keyboard. This is not ideal for self office cleaning unless you have a spare keyboard to work with while you wait for your regular keyboard to dry. If not, simply use a dry cloth and await the professionals instead.
With regular top ups, always ensure you employ a professional cleaning company to provide office cleaning services at least once every six months inclusive of a deep and thorough keyboard clean. That also includes the removal of all keyboard keys at least once a year.
Recent Comments