Many managers feel a twinge of anxiety when they see someone spraying cleaner directly onto a shared keyboard or monitor. The workstation might look cleaner afterward, but there is always that worry in the back of your mind about sticky keys, blurry screens, or a device that suddenly refuses to power back on. At the same time, you know those same surfaces are touched hundreds of times a day and need to be kept as hygienic as possible.
In a modern office, phones, keyboards, touchscreens, and multi-function printers get as much contact as door handles, yet they rarely have their own clear cleaning rules. That gap creates tension between keeping people healthy and keeping equipment safe. If IT has ever pushed back on how devices were cleaned, or you have had to replace a keyboard or handset after a “deep clean,” you already know how costly trial and error can be.
At Spectrum, we navigate this balance every day in offices, schools, medical facilities, and government buildings across Los Angeles County. Our teams follow electronics-safe procedures that align with manufacturer guidance and are supported by our CIMS-certified management systems. In this guide, we share how we approach cleaning office electronics so you can protect both your technology investment and the people who rely on it.
Why Cleaning Office Electronics Needs Its Own Playbook
Most standard office cleaning products are designed for hard, non-porous surfaces like desks, countertops, and glass. Those surfaces can handle more liquid, stronger chemicals, and rougher wiping. Electronics are different. They have seams, vents, ports, and coatings that react very differently to moisture and chemistry. A cleaning method that is perfectly safe for a laminate desktop can easily migrate under keys or into a USB port and cause damage.
There are two categories of risk when we talk about cleaning office electronics. The first is damage to the device itself. Too much liquid, the wrong type of chemical, or pressure in the wrong place can lead to clouded screens, unresponsive buttons, sticky keys, or in some cases, internal corrosion. The second risk is hygiene. Because electronics are high-touch items, light dusting only addresses appearance. It does little to control the bacteria and viruses on shared phones, keyboards, and touchscreens.
Electronics also live in a world of warranties and support contracts. Many manufacturers publish specific guidance on what is acceptable for cleaning. If those instructions are ignored and a device fails, it can complicate warranty coverage or vendor support. This is why we treat electronics as their own category in every scope of work we develop. As a CIMS-certified janitorial provider, we write device-specific instructions into our procedures so our staff clean thoroughly and consistently without crossing the line into maintenance or repair work that belongs to IT or vendors.
Common Mistakes When Cleaning Office Electronics
Across different types of facilities in Los Angeles County, we tend to see the same mistakes repeated when people try to clean their own electronics. The most common is spraying cleaner directly onto a device. It feels intuitive, since this is how many people clean windows or desks. With electronics, however, that direct spray can push liquid along the edges of screens, under keyboard keys, and into seams around buttons or touch panels, where it can wick into the device.
Another frequent problem is using harsh chemicals on screens and touch surfaces. Products that contain a lot of bleach or ammonia can be very effective on some surfaces, but modern displays and touchscreens usually have thin coatings to manage glare and fingerprints. Over time, contact with strong chemicals can etch these coatings, leave permanent streaks, or cause a cloudy appearance that employees notice every time they sit down.
We also see over-wet disinfectant wipes used on keyboards, phones, and printer panels. The wipes may be appropriate for electronics in theory, but if they are dripping wet or pressed hard into seams and openings, the liquid can travel where it should not. This is especially risky when devices remain powered on, since moisture and electricity do not mix well. Finally, many offices focus on visible dust during deep cleans and do not have a routine for sanitizing high-touch electronics, which means they miss a major source of germ transfer between employees.
Safe Cleaning Basics for Computers, Monitors & Keyboards
Most workstations revolve around a computer, monitor, keyboard, and mouse, so getting this category right makes a big impact. Whenever possible, the safest way to clean these devices is with the power off. Powering down or logging off reduces the chance of a short circuit and also makes it easier to see smudges and dust without bright backlighting. For towers and docking stations, unplugging them before deeper cleaning around vents or cables adds another layer of safety.
The first step should always be dry dust removal. Dust acts like insulation when it builds up around vents and fans, trapping heat. A dry microfiber cloth is ideal for wiping flat surfaces. Compressed air can be used carefully to blow dust out of keyboard gaps and around tower vents, but it should never be sprayed so close that moisture forms on the surface. Once loose dust is removed, only then should you introduce a small amount of cleaning or disinfecting solution.
The key principle is this: apply product to the cloth, not directly to the device. A lightly dampened microfiber cloth, not dripping wet, gives you control. For disinfecting, using compatible wipes or solution on the cloth and wiping surfaces with firm but gentle strokes will generally suffice. We train our teams to pay attention to the edges of screens, keyboard seams, and USB ports, keeping moisture away from these openings. This approach keeps electronics clean and hygienic while helping to limit the risk of liquid migration into sensitive areas.
Computers & Monitors
Monitors are especially vulnerable to poor cleaning habits. Pressing too hard on a flat panel can damage pixels, and using glass cleaner with ammonia can attack the anti-glare or anti-fingerprint coatings. A better method is to power the monitor off, then use a dry microfiber cloth to remove dust. For fingerprints or smudges, we instruct our staff to use a cloth very lightly dampened with an appropriate cleaner, wiping in straight lines without scrubbing and keeping the cloth away from the display frame edges where liquid might collect.
Computer towers and laptops have their own considerations. For towers under desks, dust tends to accumulate around vents and on top surfaces. A combination of microfiber cloth for the exterior and careful use of compressed air around vent openings works well. Our cleaners avoid opening cases or trying to clean internal components, since that belongs with IT. On laptops, we treat the keyboard and palm rest areas like any other high-touch surface but again keep moisture controlled and away from the edges of keycaps and ports.
Keyboards & Mice
Keyboards and mice receive constant contact from hands, which makes them both germ carriers and dirt magnets. We start by gently turning keyboards upside down and lightly tapping them to dislodge crumbs and debris, then use compressed air to remove particles between keys without forcing air so hard that key mechanisms are disturbed. Only after this dry cleaning do we move to disinfection, wiping the tops of keys and the keyboard surface with a nearly dry disinfecting cloth.
Mice and trackballs have sensors and seams that require similar care. Our teams wipe the exterior surfaces that people grip, along with buttons and scroll wheels, using a cloth that is damp but not wet. We avoid pressing moisture into the seams around buttons or the optical sensor. In high-use environments, such as shared workstations or computer labs, we build daily or per-shift cleaning of these input devices into the routine, since they are prime sites for germ transfer between users.
Phones, Headsets & Shared Touchscreens: High-Germ Hotspots
Desk phones, conference phones, headsets, and shared touchscreens are some of the most frequently touched electronics in any facility. Handsets touch hands and faces, headsets are worn close to mouths and ears, and conference room touchscreens are used by multiple people within a short time. From a hygiene perspective, these devices behave more like door handles and restroom fixtures than like standard office equipment, so they deserve special attention.
For phones and headsets, safe cleaning focuses on the parts that come into contact with skin. Our teams use compatible disinfecting wipes or low-moisture cloths treated with disinfectant, carefully wiping handset grips, mouthpieces, earpieces, and buttons. We keep moisture away from cable junctions, microphone holes, and speaker grilles. In call centers and reception areas, these items are often cleaned daily, and sometimes more frequently during cold and flu season or when a facility’s infection-control policy calls for it.
Shared touchscreens appear on visitor check-in kiosks, conference room control panels, and devices in medical settings. These surfaces must be both clear and responsive, so using the wrong chemical can cause serious issues. We follow manufacturer-friendly methods that use microfiber cloths and approved solutions applied to the cloth, not the screen. For high-traffic touchscreens, we typically recommend a schedule that includes frequent light disinfection throughout the day, coordinated with day porter services, and a more thorough cleaning during off-hours.
Because we serve environments such as hospitals, clinics, and schools, we are accustomed to tailoring cleaning frequency and methods to both risk level and device type. That same mindset benefits offices and government buildings, where shared electronics may not be considered clinical but still play a major role in how germs travel through a workforce.
Printers, Copiers & Multi-Function Devices: Large Equipment, Specific Risks
Printers, copiers, and multi-function devices often feel robust, so they can be overlooked during routine cleaning or treated like any other piece of furniture. In reality, these machines combine electronics, optics, and mechanical parts in one housing. The external touchpoints are safe to clean with the right methods, but internal components are very sensitive to residue and physical interference.
The areas people touch most are control panels, touchscreens, physical buttons, document lids, output trays, and door handles or levers used to clear jams. Our teams focus cleaning and disinfection on these surfaces, again using microfiber cloths and compatible solutions applied to the cloth first. We avoid spraying cleaner directly on panels or into crevices, since liquid can run down behind the screen or buttons and reach circuit boards.
We leave the internal paper paths, rollers, and optical components to vendor technicians or designated in-house staff. Attempting to wipe rollers or internal sensor areas with general cleaning products can leave residue that causes misfeeds, streaks, or print quality problems. In many facilities, copier and printer vendors have their own service instructions and restrictions. To help keep warranties and service agreements intact, we coordinate with IT or the vendor to document exactly which surfaces our staff handle and which they do not.
This coordination is especially important in larger offices and government buildings, where a single multi-function device may serve dozens of employees. By drawing a clear line between external hygiene and internal maintenance, we help facilities limit service calls while still keeping high-touch areas on these machines clean and safe to use.
Partner With a Team That Knows How to Clean Office Electronics
Cleaning office electronics well is about more than avoiding obvious accidents. It requires the right products, the right techniques, and a repeatable plan that fits your specific mix of devices, departments, and risk levels. When those pieces come together, you see fewer unexplained device issues, less downtime, and a noticeable improvement in how clean and safe shared workstations feel to your employees.
If you are rethinking how your facility handles keyboards, phones, touchscreens, and other electronics, you do not have to build that playbook alone. Our team at Spectrum can review your current routines, coordinate with your IT and vendor partners, and design an electronics-safe cleaning protocol that fits into your broader janitorial program in Los Angeles County. To start a conversation about protecting both your technology and your people, reach out to us today.