How To Clean A Laser Mouse? – Mouse Cleaning Guide

You may be using a wireless or wired laser mouse and find that often it gets dirty with dust, grime, and other particles. This is not just unhealthy and unhygienic; the grim and dust particles can shorten your mouse’s lifespan and make scrolling a hassle. Today we debate how to clean a laser mouse and which is the best way to do this.

It is essential to understand how to clean a laser mouse to keep it free of dirt and germs, prolong its own life, and create the buttons along with the detector more responsive.

The procedure involves measures such as disconnecting the laser mouse and removing the batteries (to get a wireless one). Then arrive at the cleaning and disinfecting process using readily available items. Once done, dry the mouse before inserting the batteries, reconnecting it to the pc, and resume using it.

With that, we will also elaborate on the importance of frequently cleaning this peripheral.

How to Clean A Laser Mouse?

With readily available items and regular cleaning practices, you can ensure your laser mouse remains in a tremendous usable state. Here’s how:

Items You Will Need:

To clean your laser mouse effectively, whether it’s a wired or wireless one, you need the following items:

1. Paper Towels
2. Soft Lint-Free Cloths
3. Water Spray Bottle
4. Toothpicks
5. Canned Air
6. Alcohol Wipes or Rubbing Alcohol or Mild Dish Detergent
7. Q-tips

Detailed Process

The cleaning process is based on four significant steps, namely:

1. Precautions to Take Before Cleaning
2. The Basic Cleaning Process of the Laser Mouse
3. Thorough Cleaning and Disinfecting Process
4. The Post Cleaning Process

Step 1: Precautions to Take Before Cleaning

1. Suppose you are using a wired laser mouse, power off your computer, and unplug the mouse from the USB port. It’s necessary to do so before the cleaning process so that you don’t get any electrical shock.
2. If you are using a wireless laser mouse, remove the batteries.
3. Your wireless laser mouse may also have a power button. You can usually find this on the mouse’s bottom, along with the section for batteries. Please turn it off to stop the mouse from transmitting and using the battery.

Step 2: The Basic Cleaning Process:

1. Look over the pads on the four corners at the bottom of the cursor when holding it in your hands. Dust, lint, hair, and other pollutants could be collected there.
2. Remove the lint and undesirable debris with a toothpick after cleaning them with a dry paper towel or lightweight lint-free rag. It would help if you used your fingernail to scrape the remaining soil.
3. If the soil is already there and won’t come off with your fingernail or toothpick, dab it with a paper towel or moist cloth dampened with spray. You will achieve this by using a spray bottle to squirt a few drops of water onto a paper towel or soft rag.
4. Dry the pads with another paper towel.
5. Gently hit the small, hard-to-reach regions on the top and bottom of the mouse with a toothpick. The crevices around the buttons and the scrolling wheel are used in this. It can aid in the removal of filthy or sticky particles that are impossible to get rid of.
6. Be sure the toothpick should not touch the mouse’s sensor.
7. If you have one, you will use compressed canned air to remove the excess soil. This can be accomplished by gently breathing air into the corners and small spots to eliminate any finer particles or dust that might have accumulated between the corners.

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Step 3: Thorough Cleaning and Disinfecting Process

To clean your mouse, softly dampen a lint-free cloth (with water) and use it to gently and thoroughly clean it.

Then, using an alcohol wipe, properly clean and disinfect the laser mouse’s body. For washing and disinfection, you should use a lint-free cloth lightly dampened in rubbing alcohol or a combination of mild dish detergent and warm water.

The fabric should not be too dampened since this should cause moisture to enter the mouse. In the case of a wireless laser mouse, wipes or cloth should not be included in the battery section.

Remove the dust from the laser sensor with a Q-tip. Do it slowly and softly, and don’t push too hard.

P pat the mouse’s body dry with a soft cloth or paper towel. Allow enough time for the mouse to dry absolutely.

Step 4: The Post-Cleaning Process

1. When you are sure that the laser mouse has dried and there is no moisture or liquid left, reconnect to the USB port in case of a wired one.
2. For a wireless variant, insert the batteries and turn the power button on. Then turn the computer on.
3. Resume using your clean laser mouse.

Why Clean Your Laser Mouse Regularly?

Software peripherals such as keyboards and mice, according to Forbes.com, bear more germs than a toilet seat!

As a result, cleaning your peripherals is not only hygienic but also necessary.

Essentially, cleaning peripherals such as the laser mouse regularly can ensure that they stay in proper working order and extend their lifetime.

Dirt, dust, grime, or other particles, especially in the sensor region of the laser mouse, may cause erratic and unsmooth pointer movement on the screen.

This may hurt your device use and trigger annoyances. You should try cleaning the area around the sensor as mentioned above to see if the problem with the pointer has been resolved.

If you haven’t washed your laser mouse in a long time, likely, it’s now full of dust and other particles.

As a result, you can look after it and disinfect it daily.

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Why Keep Your Laser Mouse Free of Germs?

A laser mouse and other computer peripherals are the factories for germs that many people don’t realize. We use them regularly and occasionally clean and disinfect them.

Even more bothering is that a laser mouse is often shared among people, which leads to the spread of harmful germs and, in turn infectious diseases.

Therefore, it’s essential to follow proper cleaning procedures and disinfect your accessories and peripherals often.

You can use alcohol wipes or rubbing alcohol for disinfecting your mouse and the method for it is described above.

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Final Thoughts

We hope that this post about how to clean a laser mouse will be useful to you in both the short and long run.

If you’ve gotten into the cleaning routine and made it a habit, you’ll be able to return your peripherals to brand-new conditions and fix certain hardware problems like buttons that don’t click correctly or sensors that don’t monitor well.

It is important to note that the cleaning process would not take up a lot of time. It will also keep you, your family, and your coworkers safe from dangerous agents.

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