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Pansy Brits Get U.S. Bloggers in Uproar – Filthy Keyboards

Baby Boomer Going Like Sixty Posted on by


Puh-leeze, a lot of people are freaking out over the headline grabbing, sound biting, “news” that keyboards are dirty.
We are encouraged to clean our keyboards. With what? GermX hand sanitizer makes typing really slippery. Like KY Jelly on your fingers (not that I would know about that.)
Tub and Tile Cleaner spritzed on the keyboard certainly would do the trick, but posts sure do have a lot (more than usual) of typos.

A small study conducted by a British micorbiologist confirmed something we’ve all known – but likely ignored:
KEYBOARDS ARE FILTHY!
In some cases, really filthy, containing five times the level of harmful bacteria (E. coli, staph, oh my!) as a toilet.

  • I let dogs lick my mouth.
  • I heartily endorse and support the five minute rule on food (ha, like food on the floor can last more than five seconds with dogs around.)
  • I eat from sidewalk vendors
  • I eat at carnivals
  • I eat at Chinese restaurants
I’m not worried about a little filth on my keyboard. It’s mostly my filth anyway. Note, it’s a “small study.” I bet it was done at the pubic library.

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Comments

Pansy Brits Get U.S. Bloggers in Uproar – Filthy Keyboards — 37 Comments

  1. Sure, everything’s a little dirty, but I share your attitude. I don’t even rinse off Boolie’s deedees after they hit the floor, unless there’s visible crap on them.

    I firmly believe that you make your kids less resistant to sickness if you insist on sanitizing everything. Ben’s mom is completely horrified that I let the dogs lick the kids’ faces. “Dogs lick their bottoms!” Yet she’ll shoo a fly off her pie and then eat the pie. Stupid. Like the fly wasn’t just climbing through a pile of shit.

    Gretchen’s last blog post..This Drives Me Mental.

  3. @Gretchen: I HATE maggots. Nothing grosses me out worse than maggots. Heeeeeeeby-Jeeeeeeby.
    @Laurie Ruettimann: I thought you were lost to Facebook forever. I’ll have to check out your place to see what MRSA is. And I didn’t read about the Great Keyboard Decontamination of 2008. I did read on Lifehacker that you can actually put your keyboard in the dishwasher.

  4. “I let dogs lick my mouth… I heartily endorse and support the five minute rule on food (ha, like food on the floor can last more than five seconds with dogs around.)… I eat from sidewalk vendors… I eat at carnivals… I eat at Chinese restaurants…”

    Ha, and if you’re anything like me you do at least half of those in front of your keyboard and/or with some other device (cell phone? PDA?) that also has a keyboard.

    Krissi’s last blog post..Bloggy Giveaway Winners!

  7. The only time I REALLY cleaned my keyboard was when I inadvertently
    spilled a large Double Double coffee on it.

    I still can’t talk about the time I fried my modem with a glass of white wine. (oops)

    BearNaked’s last blog post..Serious topic–Hot Flashes

  8. It appears that even you have your limits, at least by omission from your list. You did not include Mexican restaurants, so they must be off the bottom of your scale. Some of those little hole in the wall tacorias are filthy, as are the fine folks who work there and cook and bring your beans to you. They usually don’t last long because the health dept shuts them down. But they move down the street and do it all over again.

    The dirty keyboard (and mouse) story is not new. We’ve known it for years. Word is just now getting across the North Atlantic. Being in the support business, I touch dozens of keyboards and mice each week. Got a small bottle of Purell or such in every pocket and service bag and storage nook of my car. And I use it regularly.

    Winston’s last blog post..Rough Sleepers…

  9. @Winston: Correctomundo! I don’t eat in tacorias either. In our town, it’s the China buffets that have difficulty staying open. Have you ever run into somebody like Laurie, who won’t let tech support touch the keyboard?

  10. I thought it was a five second rule with food. Thanks for giving me 60 times re leeway. 🙂

    And I touch door handles without wiping them.

    And I take back my credit card from cashiers.

    And I walk on the deck at the public pool.

    And I pick heavenly raspberries right off the bushes (this is week four!) without washing them.

    And…

    David Leonhardts last blog post..Google Cache Gets Style

  14. You should be subject to a certain degree of germs to build up your resistance to them. People who keep everything super clean seem get ill all the time. I though the rule for food was that if nobody saw it fall then it’s ok!

  17. You’re right about the dirt, we are too clean sometimes, no wonder there is the MRSA bug that cannot be killed due to it being tolerant to the cleaning agents – years ago I remember being covered in mud most of the summer and rarely getting a cold, now it’s a different story!

    The other point is the dirt would no doubtedly be our own as we all use computers at home.

    John Williams.

  21. I moved jobs recentley and I did the turn the keyboard upside down and bang it onto a piece of A4 paper, the stuff that fell out made me feel sick. I ordered a new keyboard the sameday.

    You never know who has been using them before you do you, erghhhh!
    .-= elottery syndicates´s last blog ..UK lotto rollover Wed 8th July 09 =-.

  26. There’s going to be a lot of difference between a public keyboard any your own. If the germs are all yours then does it really matter how many there are? If you let others know how dirty your keyboard and mouse is then it might even put them off using your PC anyway!
    .-= Chris´s last blog ..Slim PS3 confirmed =-.

  27. This is exactly why I don’t let others touch my keyboards or laptops. Also I use the “protection films” that you can just place on top of the keyboard; and these films can be cleaned easily.

  33. Nice site, i will spend more time on this site later, also nice design, good work.

  34. Thank you for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbour were preparing to do some research about that. We got a good book on that matter from our local library and most books where not as influensive as your information.

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