Cleaning your Mac

By Ricky Buchanan • January 30, 2008

Computers get dirty. Computers even get wet sometimes. They certainly get soiled despite the best of intentions. Even the most perfectly treated computers need occasional cleaning. Computers that are used all day, carried around, used with sticky fingers, used by multiple people, those ones are even more likely to need a good clean fairly often!

The best remedy is prevention: if you have a computer that’s in a situation where it’s likely to get drink or drool or muck in the keyboard, get a keyboard cover (such as the zCover) for your keyboard or laptop and use it. You can get cases for all other portable Apple products too - ask your local retailer if you don’t know where to start.

But when your computer does get dirty, Apple’s online knowledgebase contains a wealth of articles about cleaning and disinfecting your iMac, Mac Mini, or MacBook.

Computers:

Screens and cases:

Keyboards, mice, and trackpads:

Other bits and pieces from Apple:

If you’ve managed to make your keyboard or laptop stop working because something got spilled into it, you’ll need more drastic measures than the ones listed here and your best move is to get professional help from your local Apple retailer. If you can’t afford the professional help and you’re not afraid of taking the computer apart yourself, the iFixit Guides for Mac can help you take things apart and safely clean or replace soiled components but this is not for the faint hearted and there are no guarantees. I would only suggest the do-it-yourself option if you can’t afford to get your computer fixed professionally and the only other option is tossing it out. In that case, you may find that the guides let you take a machine that’s only good as a doorstop and end up with a functioning computer.

- Ricky Buchanan, ATMac

Save or Share this post:

Categories: Educators, External Keyboards, Information, Mac Laptops, Supporters, Users, iPhone/iPod Touch, iPods
Tags: cleaning a computer, cleaning a keyboard, cleaning a laptop, cleaning a mac, cleaning a macbook, cleaning a mouse, cleaning a screen, cleaning an iMac, cleaning an iphone, cleaning an ipod, features

About the Author

Ricky Buchanan

Ricky Buchanan is 33 years old and the founder and main writer for ATMac. She's bedridden with severe CFS/ME or perhaps a primary mitochondrial disorder - the doctors are not sure. When she's not working on ATMac or her other websitse she composes music, listens to audio books, does other disability advocacy, watches TV with her flatmate, and enjoys her cat.

Newest Posts

Weekend Round-Up: See You In January 2009!

The ATMac team have been working hard all year and now we’re exhausted! We will be taking a break for Christmas and to come up with more great information and articles for you next year. There’ll also be a competition to give away some great software. We’ll be back in January, so don’t forget to check up on us.

AssistiveWare’s Giesbert Nijhuis Launches Apparel Line

I thought I’d pass on the news that MacWorld just published an interesting news item about one of our very own, Giesbert Nijhuis. Giesbert has started selling his own line of T-Shirts under the label, AssistiveWear. Congratulations Giesbert!
You can check out the full article here.
- Paul Natsch

MacSpeech Dictate Global Commands List & Cheat Sheet for 1.2.1

MacSpeech Dictate is a great program but learning so many commands at once can be intimidating. I’ve put together two documents to help you learn and remember all the global commands found in Dictate version 1.2.1.

VoiceOver For Sighted Users

VoiceOver is a screen reader primarily used by blind Mac OS X users, but sighted people also use it for a variety of reasons, either for themselves or to better support a blind user. So, where would one start with learning to use it?

All I Want For Christmas Is Power!

Power’s what assistive technology gives us, really. The power to communicate, to read, to type, to plan, to play, to control things. The power to achieve things that we couldn’t otherwise achieve. Here are some ideas for gifts to empower assistive technology users.

Dvorak Keyboard Layout - Switching

Switching to the Dvorak keyboard layout doesn’t cost anything but it does take time and effort. Here’s how to go about it, and why it’s worth the energy to do so.

Doing Math on a Mac

Doing math can be a big problem for students who can’t write or work with rulers and protractors and compasses. It’s hard to type math problems in a regular word processor, and it’s impossible to work out “protractor and ruler” type problems. Here are some programs which can help students do this type of maths on a computer

MacSpeech Dictate 1.2 Upgrade Released

MacSpeech Dictate has finally been upgraded to version 1.2. The list of improvements and fixes is extensive, and essential function such as correction (they call it “phrase training”) and a spelling mode have been introduced.

Keeping a Digital Library

Keeping your CD and DVD collections on the computer can make them much easier to access and use. ITunes makes it easy to keep music from your CDs on the computer - just use the iTunes “import” command and your music is copied to the computer. Keeping a DVD collection on the computer is a little trickier, but you don't have to be a geek to do it.

Firefox and VoiceOver - the Mozilla perspective

The Firefox web browser offers an interesting alternative to Safari, but at the moment it’s not compatible with Apple’s accessibility API. VoiceOver users can’t use it, programs like the Dictionary and the services menu programs don’t work within it, and third party enhancements like Quicksilver can’t access it. Aaron Leventhal from the accessibility team at Mozilla explains some of the reasons the incompatibility hasn’t been fixed yet, and may take a long time to be fixed at all.

ATMac

Assistive Technology for Apple and Mac Users