Comments on: Keyboards May Be Dirtier Than a Toilet Seat

By: Anne Maher

Anne Maher — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:39:13 +0000

Do not use 1st Computer.
They sacked me, I admit I was fiddling the accounts, but the charges were thrumped up.

They pay cash in hand for cetain jobs.

Use illegal employees and they do not pay national minimum wage.

Use a rival.

By: sergio

sergio — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:10:10 +0000

Need your I.T. Equipment clean come to http://www.1stcompucare.com

By: Jaycatt

Jaycatt — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:20:46 +0000

I was occasionally asked to clean keyboards here at work, and most of the typical ones did not come apart. However, the MS Natural Keyboard was always a joy to clean... Just a few screws out, then a couple of rubber mats to wash off and keytops to soak in sudsy water. Give it all a dry and snap them back into place, and you've got a new keyboard for the most part.

My current keyboard, an old clicky IBM Model M model, can remove the keytops, but is pretty tricky to actually open up and get all the crumbs out of.

By: Aar000n

Aar000n — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:20:08 +0000

And that is why I don't like using school computers...

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:47:58 +0000

I occasionally pop a few keys off and take a damp q-tip to the area underneath. Can't take off too many, or I'll never get them back in the right place! The keyboard is still pretty nasty, but it would be worse if I never made the attempt.

There are folks who put their keyboards in the dishwasher, but I'm afraid to do that. The only time water was spilled on mine (roof leak), the laminated layers inside took so long to dry that they corroded a bit. It never worked perfectly afterward. That's a Mac keyboard; your mileage may vary.

By: Barbwire

Barbwire — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:07:44 +0000

So how do you clean a keyboard? Don't just tell us what's wrong, tell us how to fix it.

By: MrPumpernickel

MrPumpernickel — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:34:39 +0000

Globi, where did you hear that the contents of your nose was a health hazard? Eating your snot has been linked to strenghtening your immune system as well as acting as calming the stomach. Now, it may of course still be disgusting to pick and eat, but the science behind it seems solid anyway.

By: Sofar

Sofar — Sun, 04 May 2008 20:34:03 +0000

I got a washable keyboard cover. Keeps the crumbs out. What's the point of these studies, anyway? Wow, a dog's mouth is cleaner than a man's mouth. Fantastic. I've never concerned myself with dirt and germs. I eat stuff off the floor, I eat off of others' plates, I flush toilets with my hands instead of my foot, and I only wash my hands for five seconds. I'm a freaking madman. It's pointless, you can't escape germs. Wash your hands every half an hour or so, that's all you can do. If you're gonna get Hepatitus A or something you're gonna get it from that which you least expect. Avoiding the select items filed under "dirty" rather than "safe" in your mind isn't going to help.

By: Tempscire

Tempscire — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:51:15 +0000

Ah, this story again...

By: sparge

sparge — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:25:48 +0000

Yeah, I hate when studies say X is dirtier than a toilet seat. Toilet seats are not all that dirty!

Besides, how often do you clean your toilet seats? How often do you clean your keyboards? Right.

By: Globi

Globi — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:21:53 +0000

Why is the content of my nose and gut a "health hazard"?

By: Parker

Parker — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:42:40 +0000

Our buttcheeks are probably a couple of the cleanest places on our bodies. And our waste is fairly clean compared to everything we touch since our body's very good at neutralizing crap. We shower fairly often and how many times do we disinfect our keyboards? And this was tested on office computers, not home computers..can you imagine?

By: SenorMysterioso

SenorMysterioso — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:36:31 +0000

Re: IanC-neat

Some of it is from fecal matter because so many disgusting people refuse to wash their hands

By: S-r-ex

S-r-ex — Sun, 04 May 2008 12:52:10 +0000

Since when did humanity finger away on the toilet seat say...four to five hours each day on a daily basis? I can tell you, your cellphone's even dirtier! There's nice and warm down in your pocket, just perfect for bacterias to thrive...

By: IanC-neat

IanC-neat — Sun, 04 May 2008 12:41:55 +0000

I'm sick and tired of hearing "X is Y times dirtier than a toilet seat because it has Y times the number of bacteria".

What about the _types_ of bacteria? Fair enough if my keyboard for some reason is full of the types of bacteria found in faeces, but otherwise, shut the fuck up!

How about this... 100 people with a cold are "dirtier" than 1 person with ebola. Which would you rather share a train with though?

By: ted

ted — Sun, 04 May 2008 12:09:03 +0000

I keep telling myself I've gotta stop sitting on the keyboard.

By: Divine

Divine — Sun, 04 May 2008 08:02:08 +0000

I knew it's dirty, I never knew it was that dirty! I'm gonna clean my keyboard now...

By: MrPumpernickel

MrPumpernickel — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:25:12 +0000

I thought this was common knowledge already?

By: Chad Cloman

Chad Cloman — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:41:23 +0000

These researchers have obviously never seen my bathroom.