The_Dude

My mouseballs seem to get dirty at a fast rate, and i was wondering how you guys cleaned the mouse pad.

I can get a new one, but i've grown used to this one very much.

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Antagony

Might be able to help if you'd tell us what kind of mousepad you have. As in, what type of material.

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Supradog

If the mousepad is clothbased(ie generic blue lookalike) it's not much you can do, simply because the cloth by time gets saturated by the sweath from you hand. You could try to soak it with some soap and hot water but getting it totally dry again can take some time.

If the mousepad is foam with plastic ontop you can clean it of with isopropanol or some other alcoholbased cleaner. Just rememeber that some of those, like whitesprit, leaves some residue.

As for pure plastic mousemats like ratpadz the best advice is to first clean them properly useing isopropanol, let it dry properly and then wax it with pledge or some other furniture polish. I do this about every 2 months.
It does not take much time, and you really notice the difference afterwards.

oh, and that ratpadz site got some cleaning instructions too.

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illdeviant

just get an optical. i have a $20 microsoft intellipoint or something. works the same and its been reliable.

Ashton

MahlerIsGod

Insert your own joke about "mouseballs."

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yotta

Ashton's right, get an optical.

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Podmore

A lot of the clothbased neoprene ones seem to come through the washer okay if you put them in a tied pillowcase and do it on gentle. I woulnd't do it often, but sometimes is okay. I woulnd't use alcohol as someone suggested as it tends to dry out plastics. Warm water and mild soap is better for the plastic ones.

cheese

i would say wash it in the sink w/ just doap and water. But a better solution is to get an optical/trackball mouse. or get an optical trackball such as thats the one i have i love it they are kinda crap for gaming though but they rock for abrage comuter use

Zotz

I had the same dilemna a year ago. I loved my mousepad but it was getting pretty nasty. I pitched the regular mouse and bought a wireless optical. It solved the problem with the ball getting dirty. The mousepad still looks disgusting but at least it isn't interfering with the performance of the mouse.

heyal256

I usually clean my mouse pad (cloth with foam underneath) by soaking in soapy water and then scrubbing it a bit. After that I drain the water and rinse it out (along with ringing out the soapy water). After that I leave it hanging in the sun for most of a day to dry.
P.S. I agree that getting an optical mouse would avoid this porblem, but I just haven't gotten around to getting one myself

HeAtHeN

Optical is the way ahead.... I love mine

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