5 Tips for Cleaning Your Office Hardware

Having a clean office environment can not only improve your workstation from a hygienic point of view, but also help to increase your productivity. If you know where everything is located and have every piece of electronics on your desk functional and ready to use, you’ll be more prepared to handle the work at hand when the moment comes. Below are 5 tips that you can use for cleaning your office hardware.

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Cleaning Your Papers

For most people, the vast majority of the clutter on their desks is comprised of paper. If you can learn how to tackle your problem with paper management, you will have gone a long way towards improving your organization and productivity. Buy bins that you can use to place your papers and label them in such a way that separates papers based on their function and need. Mark one bin for outgoing papers that need to be mailed off or sent to someone else. You can designate another stack as papers that need your attention. Another good choice to have is a bin for placing the papers that you still need to review. Finally, designate one bin as the trash area, in which you will discard garbage and unwanted materials at the end of each day.

Cleaning Your Monitor

One of the most important pieces of hardware in your office is your computer monitor. Unfortunately, computer monitors are also one of the pieces of equipment in your office that is most likely to get dirty. Indeed, monitors tend to be dust and smudge magnets, which can make it difficult for you to read information easily off of the screen. To clean a monitor, take a damp cloth rag and run it gently across the surface of the screen, taking care not to press too hard. If you have particularly stubborn smudges, you can use a mild glass cleaner to help remove them. Does not spray the glass cleaner directly onto the monitor or you may get the inside of it wet inadvertently. Instead, spray a little cleaner onto a cloth and apply the cloth to the monitor. It’s also important to avoid using paper towels or any other kind of paper cloth products since they can scratch a monitor.

Cleaning the Inside of Your Computer

Many people do not realise this, but the inside of your computer can get quite dusty, which can increase the amount of allergens in the air as well as help to overheat your computer as the dust stops up the computer’s fans and cooling systems. In order to clean the inside of your computer, you will need to purchase a can of compressed air and have access to a small vacuum cleaner. First, you will need to remove the case cover from your computer. Follow the instructions that came with your computer for information on how to remove the case. Typically, this will involve removing some screws and sliding off the cover. Once the cover is removed, take your vacuum cleaner and start sucking up the dust, being careful not to touch anything. When you have removed most of the loose dust, use the can of compressed air to remove the dust from fans and other hard to reach areas. Finally, use the vacuum cleaners again to remove the remaining dust and close up the case.

Cleaning Your Phone

A lot of people don’t think about cleaning their telephones, but they should. Telephones can harbour bacteria since the receivers are in close contact with your mouth, which can spread bacteria and viruses. Spray a basic household cleaner onto a cloth and gently go over the buttons on the phone as well as the hand set. If you have any debris inside the holes on the hand set, you can use a small pin or toothpick to dislodge the particles. Make sure not to go too far into the holes though as this may damage the internal electronics. You can also use a cotton swab that has been dipped in alcohol to clean the numbers on the phone. On some models, you can even remove the faceplate on the number pad to do a more thorough cleaning job.

Bind Your Cables

One problem that baffles many people is how to organize the cables and power cords that go to all of their electronic devices. Often, there can be as many as ten cords that can create a messy appearance. One way to solve this is buy purchasing plastic bindings or ties that can be used to harness all of the cords and cables into one neat bundle. If you do not want to buy one of these specialty products, you can achieve the same effect by using a twist tie that comes with garbage bags to bundle up your cords and cables.

This is a Guest Post by James. James writes for Spares Next Day, a leading supplier of vacuum bags in the UK.