Cleaning Your Home Office and Desk Setup
Ontario's shift toward remote and hybrid work has made home office cleaning a category that barely existed five years ago. A desk setup — monitor, keyboard, mouse, webcam, cables — accumulates dust, skin particles, and bacteria at a rate that most people underestimate. A clean desk setup is both healthier and more productive.
Monitor
A monitor screen should never be cleaned with household glass cleaner — ammonia in most glass cleaners damages anti-glare coatings. Use a dry or lightly dampened microfibre cloth. For smudges, a small amount of distilled water on the microfibre is sufficient. Never spray anything directly onto the screen.
Keyboard
Keyboards are among the dirtiest surfaces in any workspace — studies consistently find more bacteria per square inch on keyboards than on toilet seats. Shake it upside-down over a waste bin first. Then use compressed air to blow debris from between keys. Wipe key surfaces with a lightly damp cloth or isopropyl alcohol wipe (70% IPA is standard). For mechanical keyboards, the keycaps can be removed and soaked in warm water with a drop of dish soap.
Mouse and Desk Surface
Mouse: wipe with a damp microfibre cloth and clean the sensor area with a dry cotton swab. Desk surface: wipe with a general-purpose surface cleaner, being careful around wooden surfaces (use a wood-appropriate product). Cable management surfaces accumulate dust — address those too.
Weekly Routine
Five minutes weekly: dust monitor, wipe keyboard with a dry cloth, wipe desk surface. Monthly: compressed air keyboard blast, isopropyl wipe on all input devices, dust behind and under monitor. This routine maintains a clean workspace with minimal disruption to the workday.