Does your significant other, your roommate, your kids, or your-coworkers use your computer keyboard or mouse? If so, they might make you sick this year when a quick sneeze or eye rub leaves germs on your keyboard. But, not if you get the germs first.
When you work at a regular corporate office, chances are your desk is your own. Sure, everything still belongs to the company, but for the most part, no one is using your keyboard or mouse while you are away. The good thing about this is that you don't have to worry about catching someone else's germs from them using your keyboard. But, what about when you work from a home office?
You could wipe the keys and the mouse down with those antibacterial wipes, but the letters on the keys aren't that robust in the first place, and frequent wiping with alcohol based swabs isn't likely to extend the nice look of your keyboard. As far as sprays go, forget it. That liquid in the sensitive electronic pieces is just a malfunction waiting to happen. So what can you do then?
Ultraviolet or UV light actually kills bacteria and viruses. You can buy various UV products these days for just this purpose, including a handy wand-like device to use for disinfecting surfaces.
Sound too good to be true? Well, maybe. The fact that UV light kills bacteria and viruses is cold hard scientific fact, so there is no need to worry that this is some voodoo theory. The catch lies in the fact that in order to actually disrupt the cell wall of the bacteria or virus, the light must directly shine on the foe and that isn't as easy as it might sound.
For starters, you need the right kind of UV light. So, if you have a UV light of some sort laying around for another purpose, it probably won't work. Look for a product that specifically is designed for disinfecting and explicitly states that it uses the part of the UV spectrum that kills bacteria and viruses. In some cases, this is referred to as UV-C.
Second, this isn't Star Trek. You don't just wave the wand over your keyboard for two seconds and walk away. Most commercially available products require 10 to 20 seconds of exposure from just two inches away to disinfect. That is 10 to 20 seconds ON THE SAME SPOT, not moving it back and forth over your keyboard for 20 seconds. That means you will have to start in one place, wait 20 seconds, move the light to the next part, wait 20 seconds and so on.
In other words, yes, these products can work, but it is going to take you 90 seconds or longer depending on how big of area the light covers to do your mouse and keyboard. Make sure you actually read the instructions paying special attention to the details about how long and how far away the light should be and you can spend this year with fewer colds.
