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Are Keyboards Dishwasher Safe?
i_like_spam writes "Computer keyboards are a breeding ground for bacteria. Studies have shown that keyboards often contain more bacteria than toilet seats. Common cleaning methods, such as pressurized-air canisters and damp rags, help remove some of the dirt, but they also leave behind plenty of grime. National Public Radio describes a recent experiment by a reporter who used a dishwasher to clean her keyboard. Following the advice on Plastic Bugs, she placed her keyboard in the top rack, didn't use the heated dry cycle, and air dried the keyboard for a week afterwards. Her keyboard is now squeaky clean and functions perfectly. Has anyone else tried this or any other alternate keyboards cleaning methods? For those not willing to air dry for a week, dishwasher-safe keyboards are now available. Would you ever do this to your peripheral? "
Post it again in a week!
As always, all IMO. Insert "I think" everywhere grammatically possible.
My wife put a keyboard in the dishwasher and killed it dead. Never did work again.
What about laptops?
-- rm -rf / tells you if you have root or not
and air dried the keyboard for a week afterwards
A week? That's probably more fossil fuels consumed than a new keyboard would be.
Table-ized A.I.
I just lick mine clean.....kinda like the family cat. Sometimes the cat and I take turns licking the mouse, too. Never got sick, though I did get a second taste of some cashew chicken from last month. Mmmmmmm.
An emphatic yes, given what else I'd do to my peripheral!
Ae keboas ishashe safe?
o.
Ewige Blumenkraft.
Obviously you've never seen my toilet seat.
As proven on Mythbusters, almost everything is dirtier than a toilet seat
The fallacy here is that having bacteria does not necessarily make something "dirty" (unhealthy). There's probably more bacteria in my stomach right now that my toilet seat. Does that mean I wouldn't want to get food in my stomach? There's good bacteria, chaotic neutral bacteria, and chaotic evil bacteria.
Take it in the shower with me, set on a box fan for several hours to dry. Has worked fine several times.
Not true! I've seen it leave your apartment when you're gone. It likes to go on a stroll, sometimes even takes the dog out. I wouldn't worry until it starts answering the phone, though.
Wow! How many times do you have to refresh the post reply page before you get a captcha you can type?
I just wash my hands regularly.
You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
Or in some cases, stray bits of marijuana and tobacco and ashes and dead skin cells and... (you get the point)
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Think of the children! Think of the Evil, Scheming, Keyboard Roasting children! If you're a Bad keyboard, the Small Smelly Children will Come During the Night and they'll Unplug you with their Little Hands and Take You To The Dump! You don't want that, do you? Now type your Ps and Qs!
"I would write a better reply, but why keep my computer on and waste the electricity" says a voice in my head. Not just any voice- this one sounds like Al Gore.
How do you know it hasn't hurt you? Have you never been sick? At this very moment those bacteria may be evolving sentience and soon they will plot to destroy your brain with laser beams fired from bacteria-proportioned starships.
I agree. In fact, I am internally equipped with various defenses to fight and defeat those evil bacteria. The bacteria on my keyboard was probably originally attached to me anyway.
After I use someone else's keyboard, I wash my hands. Maybe I should write an Ask Slashdot topic:
"I recently discovered it was possible to wash my hands. After looking up various hygiene-related articles (link to Wikipedia) I found out that hand-washing has been associated with greatly-lessened likelihoods of getting sick. And disease outbreaks have been shown to be limited among populations of folks who wash their hands. Finally, after I heard that Al Gore washes his hands (link to Al Gore), I started doing it myself. Has anyone else tried this? Where do you wash them? Do you live near a fast-moving river where you can wash them? I wash mine in the toilet, but I'm starting to think that's not helping as much as the online articles suggest. There are other fixtures in my bathroom, but I don't know what they do. Has anyone ever tried using these other fixtures?"
"I just wash my hands regularly."
I hear ya. Ever since I've started washing my hands, I've noticed there's an invisible force field that repels all liquids, cat hair, and crumbs from the keyboard. It's an amazing phenomenon that only Douglas Adams could describe in great detail.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
... But it don't work with cats.
God Be Gone
A guy in a high street computer shop once told me about a phone call he had received from a customer. They said that they had spilled some sticky drink over their boss's keyboard while he/she was away and they asked if there was anything they could do about it. He suggested that they wash it under the tap and leave it to dry for a day or two then it will be fine....
... a week later the computer guy got another phone call, this time it was the boss asking why in the world he had suggested that his employee washed his laptop under the tap!
This was a popular topic of discussion on Usenet in 1996. Seriously, what gives?
Your irresponsible lack of keyboard sanitisation will lead to the deaths of 2/3rds of the population of this planet - they will die from a disease caught from a dirty keyboard. The other 1/3rd, consisting of hairdressers and keyboard sanitisers and the like, will be shipped off to another planet where the answer to life, the universe and everything will be discovered.
Well, the factory washed it in orange juice after the solder wave, so clean water should be fine.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
But but... where would all the calculators go?!
It's funny... I had that same voice in my head... but my fingers wouldn't let me type the command to shut this box down...
Me failed English...
FreeBSD over Linux. If my comments seem odd, this may explain...
Yeah but people dont know that.
Heck if you told them they had (good) bacteria in their intestines, a lot of people would try to drink Dettol (or similar) and make the world a better place.
A-ha! You said "pouring," implying that it wasn't an accident! Wait til your boss hears about this!
Me too! Bacteria are the only culture some people have!