{"id":4017,"date":"2020-03-23T13:10:25","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T20:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/?p=4017"},"modified":"2020-03-23T13:10:25","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T20:10:25","slug":"sanitizing-home-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/sanitizing-home-office\/","title":{"rendered":"You Missed a Spot: Sanitizing Your Home Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long before the terms COVID-19 and coronavirus became a part of our daily discourse, almost all of us were already walking around with devices that might have been contaminated with viruses and bacteria. Many of these objects came into frequent contact with our fingers and ears. I\u2019m talking about our phones, laptops and earbuds.<\/p>\n

Sure, now and then we\u2019ll rub our phones on our pants when they get smudged. We\u2019ll clean or pick up the crumbs around a couple of keys on our laptops. Now that many workers nationwide are required to work from home to stop the spread of the virus, you\u2019re going to have to make sure your home office space doesn\u2019t become a breeding ground for the very thing you\u2019re trying to avoid.<\/p>\n

Poly wants to help you rid yourself of all these electronic petri dishes. We\u2019ve been helping people with home offices for a long time, and many of our products are great for work-from-home setups<\/a><\/span>. So here are a few ways to keep a variety of electronic devices clean<\/a><\/span>. Don\u2019t ever use bleach and, of course, be sure nothing is plugged in while you\u2019re cleaning it.<\/p>\n

\"PolyPhones:<\/strong> Cleaning wipes and soft cloths are best. Don\u2019t spray any cleaners directly onto the phone, and make sure no water or cleaning product gets into the ports, nooks and crannies. These tips can be applied to both smartphones as well as to traditional desk phones and conference phones<\/a><\/span>. For smartphones, treat the glass gingerly. For handsets, give some extra attention to the receiver, which spends most of its time against your mouth and ears.<\/p>\n

Keyboards:<\/strong> The same no-liquids restriction apply here. Start by cleaning up crumbs and anything in the hard-to-reach spaces between the keys. You could use cotton swabs, clear tape or even this recipe from CNET for cleaning slime<\/a>.<\/span> Then give it all a good scrub with disinfectant wipes.<\/p>\n

Accessories:<\/strong> First remove batteries from any device that has them. Make sure you do the trackpad, USB flash\/thumb drives and especially your germ-covered mouse.<\/p>\n

Cables:<\/strong> If you\u2019re frequently charging and unplugging phones and laptops, you might want to give your cables a once-over. Don\u2019t mess with the connector ends, but go after any part you touch frequently, as well as the length of the cord itself.<\/p>\n

Headsets:<\/strong> We only think about them when we\u2019re using them, but big and small<\/a>,<\/span> they hang on our heads or around our necks every workday for weeks and months.<\/p>\n

Earbuds:<\/strong> Go with a cotton swab with alcohol. If the swab is dripping, it\u2019s too wet. If the earbuds have removable tips, take them off and give them some attention. Check every crevice for dust, dirt and yep \u2013 earwax. Hopefully, this will be the grossest home-office item you need to clean.<\/p>\n

\"poly<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve hit all the biggies, look around your workspace and hunt for other items that you interact with frequently. Then ask some questions:<\/p>\n