Viscous keyboard-cleaning goop

This Swiss goop ("Cyber Clean") is a viscous slime that you roll around on your keyboard, so that all the food particles and fingernail parings are swept away, while the germicidal surface de-germifies your icky, filthy, disgusting keyboard. Link (via Red Ferret)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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MCZ

A rather boring keyboard-cleaning method using common household items:

What:
1. A clean shoe brush or similar item.
2. Chux Superwipes or similar.
3. A non-abrasive, general-purpose kitchen cleaner.

How:
1. Spray the cleaner onto the Superwipe until it’s just damp.
2. Lay the Superwipe on the keyboard.
3. Apply the brush vigorously for a couple of minutes. The bristles will guide the fabric into keyboard crevices.
4. Rinse the brush with water.
5. Lightly dampen a new Superwipe with water and repeat steps (2) and (3).

Note: Does not remove crumbs trapped under the keycaps.
airshowfan

The goop cleans keyboards? All right. But how do you clean the goop?

#12:”I am imagining how the goop would look after katamari-ing up all my crumbs and bitten-off fingernail ends. It is not the pleasantest thing I’ve ever imagined.”

Exactly.
mannakiosk

Harshlanguage @ #17: I agree. Also, doesn’t the use of germicides facilitate the creation of resistant bacteria through evolution?
bolamig

I clean my keyboards with q tips and water (or alcohol every once in a while). Cheap and it works great.
Korpo

I used to work in a desktop support type job, and one of my clients was a woman that used olive oil to keep her hair in check, and liked to eat crackers at her desk.

Thing is, she didn’t wash her hands after oiling her hair (multiple times per day), so the oil got all over the keyboard and the cracker crumbs stuck to it, forming a kind of sludgy cracker goop that made the keyboard stop working in a week or two.
absolutetrust

does the photo not look like the playdough man’s severed member?
Anonymous

mannakiosk @ 21

It gives bacteria that is ALREADY RESISTANT to germicides an advantage over those that are not. It doesn’t create anything, it just make it possible for them to flourish.
David Newland

It’s insane to pull the keys off a keyboard unless you have an identical one standing by as a template when it comes time to reassemble. Even the numbers aren’t in the order you think they are!
seth matthew

This is ingenious. The current options for keyboard maintenance include “just blow everything under the keys” and “run it under the sink, buy new keyboard.”
PFlint

@ Airshowfan: If the goop can be rinsed in water and remain effective/functional, then “thanks!” go to the manufacturer. If not, then it’s as I suspected: use, discard, buy more (mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money — for the manufacturer).

@ Absolutetrust: I have some other pictures for you to look at. Tell me what you see, and be as honest as you can be. No one is judging you. Aw, haigs, yes we are.
Jake0748

Cool! Cory, did you try this stuff? It would be great if it really works well. I get grossed out by keyboards quite often.
Bookyloo

Quoth their website:

* Cyber Cleanâ€™s patented formula uses a combination of viscosity and elasticity to sink right into cavities, absorbing dirt and other residues whilst killing germs on the surface

* Simply press on the surface of keyboards, cameras, keypads etc for instant results

* 500g pot

(500g pot???!! bring that shit on, it’ll inspire me to clean my keyboard for at least three hours.)
Xenu

You can get a REAL banana slug for a lot less than that.
Scuba SM

#37,

That’s why I took a picture of my keyboard before I disassembled it. Of course, I forgot to take the password protected screensaver down before I did that, but it’s the thought that counts.
Takuan

green slime kiddie toy with alcohol added
cornballer

PLEASE let me know if anyone has successfully used one of these monstrosities! I could really use a few around the office, if so.
MrsBug

#17 and #21,
I guess I’ve always thought there’s a difference between “germicidal” and “anti-bacterial.” Soap can be considered ‘germicidal’ because it can kills germs (microorganisms that cause disease). Anti-bacterial means targeting bacteria, which is where the bacterial resistance issue comes in. Germs are, well, just cooties. :D

I’d be willing to use this on my keyboard, and I agree that the anti-bacterial hype is just too doggone much. I refuse to buy anything that makes that claim (unless I need Cipro or something. LOL)
Jake0748

Tak, are you thinking up some alternate uses?
Ajani

This sounds great, and I’d like to give this a try on my macbook pro…but has anyone found an American distributor? Not sure if I want to pay $16 plus shipping for this.

The official site has it set at $6.49 each but you have to buy a minimum of six.

http://www.cyberclean.ch/
Takuan

it won’t stay lit, but in a baggie in the toilet tank with some potato peelings…..mmmm: green pruno!
Lexica

Soap doesn’t kill germs â€” it lifts them from the surface of the skin so they can be rinsed away, but it doesn’t kill them. More info: http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/1897.html
Jake0748

I won’t even pretend to know what you mean. And please… don’t tell.
Takuan

http://blacktable.com/gillin030901.htm

the green goop only serves to capture atmospheric yeast spores for fermentation
jimkirk

Silly Putty (R) ?
Tilt

How does gargle kill germs?

The germs see the gargle coming and they die laughing.

â€“Medical Economics (circa 1964)

(no kidding)
spazzm

Little known fact:
Most (all?) keyboards can be washed in a regular dishwasher. Some (wireless ones, mostly) must be disassembled in order to air-dry, but that’s it.

Here’s the complete how-to:
Disassemble keyboard, if at all possible.
Put in the washer, regular wash (about 80 C, but not much higher).
Afterwards, stand the pieces on a towel, point a fan at them and let them dry overnight.
Reassemble.
Jake0748

Spazzm, cool idea. I have a bunch of extra keyboards lying around. I’m going to try this. If it works out, great. I’ll have a new trick to impress all my geek friends with. If it doesn’t, meh, it was just sitting in the closet anyway.

Thanks for tip.
Lauren O

Count me among those who want a testimony from someone to see if it really works. My laptop keyboard is basically an abomination in the eyes of God, but I don’t want to spend 16 dollars on something useless.

I am imagining how the goop would look after katamari-ing up all my crumbs and bitten-off fingernail ends. It is not the pleasantest thing I’ve ever imagined.
ThinkPositive

Can I put my laptop in teh washing machine too? It’s gone really sticky since I tried to clean it with some marzipan.
Jake0748

Ooh, Lauren. I forgot about the laptops. Good thought. I don’t think the dishwasher trick would work so well with them.
Stefan Jones

Whiteboard cleaner and paper towels work great for the shmutz that gums up the surface of the keys.
Anonymous

Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
jonathan_v

Laptop keyboards will almost universally fail if you get them wet – the electronics aren’t protected.

Most regular keyboards are ok – and you can always rip the keys off, wash, and then replace.
NoahApples

This stuff looks promisingly useful, but I cringe at the thought of my keyboard ending up even remotely greasy afterwards.
historyman68

i have a titanium powerbook, the one with a removable keyboard, so i might be able to try the dishwasher trick! now all i need is a dishwasher…
konshuss

thoughts over lunch…. keyboard cleaner, or extreme earwax buildup?
HarshLanguage

Ugh, “germicidal.” No thanks. I won’t buy into that fear-mongering hype. (OH GOD GERMS EVERYWHERE! MUST USE ANTIMICROBIAL PRODUCTS!)
Kieran O’Neill

#16 – Rubber gloves + sink + running hot water + detergent?

Hmmm … Not to be confused with viscious teenager-eating goop.
Mel Rodriguez

I wash my keyboard too. It’s a cordless Logitech one that I keep permanently unscrewed so I can lift the top off to wash under a tap and leave the base where all the wiry stuff is intact. Takes all of 5 seconds.
Avram

Then, to clean the goop, they also sell a special cruft-attracting keyboard….
DeuceMojo

Anyone notice that hand’s got some long-ass finger nails? Wonder if he uses the viscous cyber goop to clean the Cheetos out from under those bad boys…