I use my keyboard every day and yet it’s often the last thing I think to clean. Once I shut down my PC and step away from my desk, any thoughts of tidying it up vanish. I’m the kind of person who does almost everything at my desk–from grabbing a quick lunch (crumbs are inevitable) to petting my rescue greyhound (his fur gets everywhere). One day, while absentmindedly glancing at the spaces between the keys, it hit me: Wow, this thing is disgustingly dirty.
That’s where the weird little slime ball cleaner comes in. It’s bright yellow and squishy, and it oozes right into those hard-to-reach areas of my keyboard. It beats compressed air by a large margin, that’s for sure. A can of compressed air just blows the debris around to different parts of the keyboard. This cleaning ball actually grabs hold of the yucky stuff and pulls it right out. It also smells like lemon, which I don’t mind at all. It’s not a high-tech tool, but it’s tactile and fun and a little silly.
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
I use this gooey little blob almost daily now–partly because it works, but mostly because it’s just weirdly satisfying. You know those pimple popper videos people are obsessed with? Yeah, it hits that same part of my brain. When I’m done, I just plop it back into the plastic container it came in and slide it to the side of my desk until next time. For context, I’m using a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Red switches (specifically the Corsair K70), so the keycaps are tall and there’s a lot of deep space between them, perfect for crumbs to disappear into, and just right for this slime to dig them out. If it isn’t already obvious, make sure your PC is switched off when you use the slime ball, otherwise you’ll wind up typing a bunch of gobbledygook.
Beyond my keyboard, I’ve found that this quirky ball of slime is equally adept at tackling the dust that accumulates on my desk surface. By gently rolling in circles across my desk area, it lifts away dust without leaving any residue behind. It’s also effective at getting into the nooks and crannies around my awkwardly-shaped monitor stands (I’ve got a dual monitor setup). It makes it easier to maintain a tidy workspace with minimal effort.
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
I also tend to break off a clean piece and play with it if I’m stuck on a paragraph or in between meetings. It helps me think.
The cleaning slime doesn’t last forever–it’ll turn dark and a little too gross eventually–but swapping it out is easy and cheap. Right now, it’s even on sale for $9.99 on Amazon (it’s a two-pack!), down from the usual $15.99 (about 38 percent off). And it’s not just for keyboards, either. You can use it to pull dust out of car vents, air conditioners, calculators, and basically any small crevice that collects grime.
I used to think cleaning gadgets were overkill, but now I kind of look forward to smushing this ridiculous blob into my keyboard a few times a week. It’s a little gross, a lot of fun, and weirdly effective. What more can you ask from a ball of slime? If your keyboard is starting to grow its own ecosystem, maybe it’s high time you pick up a little slime ball of your own.