Take a moment and look at your fingers. Now look at your mouse and keyboard, your cell phone, your remote control, your digital camera and just about any handheld device you handle regularly. Now consider this: according to microbiologist Charles Gerba (aka Dr. Germ), on average a toilet seat harbors less bacteria than your computer keyboard. Your keyboard might have a germ occupancy rate 60x greater than your toilet seat! Sobering thought, huh? But cleaning your gear isn't really all that difficult and there are plenty of ways, some high-tech, others quite old fashioned, that will get your tech devices spic 'n span, not only leaving them a lot nicer looking, but likely reducing your chances of catching the achoos…
University of Arizona microbiologist Charles Gerba's obsession with all things microbial has earned him the nickname Dr. Germ, and when he isn't measuring how many fecal bacteria reside on your kitchen cutting board (FYI: 200x more than your toilet seat; your keyboard seems pristine now in comparison), he has researched and listed the following as the most germ-ridden items common to a home office: phone handsets (cell phones too), desk surface, computer keyboards and the computer mouse.
We've gotten into the habit of just dabbing a little hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol onto a paper towel and wiping down our keyboard (we recommend you pop out the batteries beforehand, unless you want to IM your friends a bunch of gibberish), mouse and the top of our desk every other day or so, sometimes more, since we're in the bad habit of eating from our desk. Keep a small travel sized bottle of hand sanitizer and paper towels or a reusable soft cloth in your drawers for easy maintenance and make sure you do it any time you've touched door nobs, have had guests use your computer, or when you've eaten around your desk [pausing]. I actually took a break while typing this post to wipe down my own setup, the thought of a bacterial Cancun Spring Break on my keyboard and the photo above enough of a motivator to give it a quick cleaning, it not just for peace of mind.
Just remember not to apply alcohol or disinfectant onto the screens of your device; we like and recommend iKlear for our monitors and screen devices without worry about ruining displays. And of course, preventive and regular cleaning habits around the desk can keep that germ count down inbetween cleanings.
Worst comes to worst, pop that keyboard into the dishwasher (though we'd be hesitant to do so, despite the a-ok).
Here are several other options to keep your space tech clean:
- Chemical-free Cleaning Solutions Made of Water
- A Quick Guide to Cleaning & Disinfecting Your Devices
- Germ Busting Tech Tips & Tricks
- How To Clean your Keyboard
- Five Germ Busting Home Gadgets
- Cyber Clean Keyboard Cleaner
- How To Create a Slighty Self Cleaning iPad Sleeve
- Isopropyl Alcohol: The Super Hero of the Tech Cleaning World
- Two Toiletries To Clean Your Computers With
- 10 Preventive Tech Solutions for the Swine Flu Germaphobe
Before & After: Emily Henderson Transforms a Senior's Studio Space
Monica & Austin's Charming Bungalow
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Four-P...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
So what you're really saying is that we should chop our meats and vegetables on our toilet seat cover?
A couple germs here and there are ok. Poop related germs; not ok. It's hard to try to balance your exposure to good, bad, and benign germs. You don't want to over-sanitize, but you don't want coliform on your cell phone, either.
I usually just do a lysol once over at the end of the week, and wipe my cell phone several times a week (a LOT more if my daughter handles it)
Just for clarity's sake, you don't catch the "achoos" from bacteria (that's a viral thing, dude). And washing your hands after you use the bathroom would go a long way toward not having to worry as much about the stuff you might have touched afterwards.
Am I the only one who thinks "so what" reading all those "oh no more germs than a toilet seat"-comparisons? Of course there aren't that many germs on a toilet seat, if there are you're either using it wrong (you sit there, don't pee there...) or never cleaning it, or more likely, both... Or am I missing something?
And I agree with QueenOfTheFall, a few germs are ok. If you live in too clinical an environment you'll be much more likely to suffer big consequences when you do meet a couple. Or is that also a common misconception?
I also think the anti-microbial stuff is getting out of hand. I wipe down my gadgets and keyboard with a wet cloth (water only) to get rid of obvious grime and fingerprints, but don't do anything for "germs".
Bacteria are everywhere. You have more microbial cells in your body than human cells. They're called normal flora. More than 40% of the human population is colonized by Staph. aureus, and MRSA is now common in the community. The problem is when microbes get into places they shouldn't be, not that they're there.
The problem is people not cleaning things properly, if ever, due to some misconception that it's not necessary. Grocery carts are one of the dirtiest objects you come into regular contact with. Most home kitchens wouldn't pass a health inspection. Blah blah blah.
Wash your hands, especially after using the bathroom or before eating anything. Hand sanitizer is most effective at killing gram negative bacteria, such as E. coli. Staph. aureus is gram positive, as is Streptococcus. Hand sanitizer may or may not kill it. Soap and water physically remove the microbes from your skin; much more effective.