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#TechTipTuesday: Keeping your technology clean

In this unprecedented time we are living in, we must do our best to stay safe, in the community, in the workplace, or working from home.  The Center for Disease Control’s recommendations for protecting yourself from COVID-19 include:

  • Avoid close contact with anyone who is sick and when out in the community.  (Stay home if you can. Find more information on social distancing here.)
  • Don’t touch your face with unwashed hands. (I bet most of us did not know how often we do this.)
  • Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap.
  • Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily.

Washing your hands doesn’t help much if you go right back to tapping a keyboard you’ve been touching for the past two years.  See below for our first #TechTipTuesday from our Systems Manager on properly cleaning your office hardware.

Laptop and traditional keyboards:

  • Power off and unplug your laptop and/or disconnect your keyboard.
  • Use isopropyl alcohol to clean the tops of the keys.
  • Soak it up into a soft, dust-free cloth, or use a cotton swab and gently rub the keytops.
  • Do not drip any alcohol inside the keyboard.
  • Never use a spray cleaner directly on the keyboard.

Laptops, Tablets, Monitors and Cell Phones:

  • Power off and unplug your device.
  • Apple has consented that using Clorox wipes are acceptable to disinfect Apple devices.
  • For other devices, spray a 70% (no greater) isopropyl disinfectant directly on a soft lint-free cloth and wipe down your device.
    • Do not use paper towels; they are too abrasive.
    • Use an old (but clean) t-shirt (that was not washed with fabric softener or essential oils) or a microfiber cloth.
  • Let the device air dry entirely before shutting the laptop and before plugging in or powering on.

DO NOT SPRAY YOUR DEVICES WITH DISINFECTANT DIRECTLY.

Remember: scrub those fingers and hands for 30 seconds. Hand sanitizer doesn’t help if you aren’t rubbing it on your hands for 20 seconds or longer, so a little dab will not do you.
Get plenty of soup and toilet paper and STAY HEALTHY!

Cheers to all my fellow introverts that genuinely look forward to being cooped up!