Clean a Computer Mouse

Have you ever had a computer mouse (not the optical kind) that seems to make the pointer jump around on your screen or not move at all when you move the mouse. Well that normally means that it's dirty and you need to clean it. It is very simple and easy to do and should take less than 3 minutes. Best of all its free.

Tools:
1 finger and finger nail

To clean your mouse you need to first take it apart. Don't worry, you're not going to void the warrenty.

Turn it over and you will notice a hole with a rubber ball in it. You will want to turn the piece of plastic in the counterclockwise direction (there are arrows to show the actual direction), using your fingers. You should only need to turn it about 45 degrees for it to come lose. Once you remove the ring, the ball will fall right out.

Once the mouse is opened up, you will see two roller bars, this is what senses the movement of the mouse from the rubber ball. As you move your mouse around it will pick up lint and dirt particles, these particles will be transferred to the roller bars and stick to them, creating a rough surface. This will prevent the roller bars from rolling even though you move the mouse.

You can see in the photo, each roller bar has a band of dirt on it. All you have to do is to scrape the dirt from the roller bars. The easiest way to do this is to use your finger nail and scrape the dirt off. Be sure to turn the roller bars as you clean them so they get cleaned all the way around.

Once cleaned, just reassemble your mouse by inserting rubber ball back into the hole, replacing the plastic ring cover and turning it in the opposite direction as you did before.

Turn the mouse back over to the upright position and say the magic words 'shabang' and you have your self a like new, refurbished, working mouse.