Cyber Clean cleaning compound review
I don’t write about cleaning products very often, but maybe I should do so more frequently – especially if they’re low in price and/or help things to last longer.
It’s no secret that I’m saving up for a new laptop. The one I’m currently using has been a faithful companion for a good long while, but it’s time for something speedier and more reliable. In the meantime, anything that makes it run faster or feel more pleasant to use is worth trying…
I was given a sachet of Cyber Clean cleaning compound to try out, and it was great timing. In particular, the keyboard looked like it was ready for a clean. In the past I’ve tried a combination of keyboard/screen wipes and compressed air to keep it in good condition, which worked fairly well but was pretty time consuming.
Cyber Clean cleaning compound claims to clean keyboards, ventilation grills and other devices. It’s also supposed to kill 99.9% of germs, tested against Staph. aureus, E coli and other nasties. The instructions seem simple: mould the gel onto the keys then gently peel it off to ‘remove all the dirt and germs.’
When you take this stuff out of the packet it’s a thick gel, and it has a light fragrance that’s half way between lemon vodka and cleaning fluid. It does mould into the keyboard easily, but has to be removed slowly to prevent tiny pieces from being left behind. I found that it needed to be pushed down between the keys quite firmly to get to any dust and dirt, and that it needed to be applied three or four times over the same area to get the full effect.
The most interesting bit was seeing what the compound picked up. There was a little dust on and under the keys – as mentioned previously, it’s been kept reasonably clean by other methods – but the funniest thing was the amount of cat hair. All from the black and white cat, and not the tabby, it turns out. Ick. Anyway, the compound is good at picking up dust and debris, although it’s perhaps not perfect at removing 100% of smudges.
Once you have the hang of it, the gel’s easy to use and it does work well. There’s also a useful colour guide on the back of the packet, as the gel darkens after a few uses, so you know when it’s time to replace it. You get several uses out of each pack and the zip pouch version costs £5.00, which is pretty reasonable.
