I want to keep the new laptop purchase in clean and good order. The compressed air does only so much and am considering a dedicated mini vacuum along with a gentle brush. There are an awful lot of selections from which to choose.What do y'all use for a computer vac?I am also considering getting the rubber plugs that cover up the chassis slots when not in use (but am almost certain those will eventually get lost over time)Any other good recommendations?

Other than in a work place environment, I've never had the need to worry about such a thing..My users in my corporate environment go thru more keyboards and mice than I can count... :)Home use, unless you are eating cookies and spilling Coke, coffee, water, etc on your laptop, you should be fine with just compressed air at the most to get rid of the dust at most..Good luck!Mitch

Not really a brand hound myself, but I'd look for any small vac that has a black hose AND has both a suck and blow connection for the hose. That hose will often have been made with carbon black to color it and carbon is good for dissipating static. You're looking for a vacuum that has the marketing blerb "static dissipating" or "low static" or some such. Then when I do a laptop cleanout, if it's low humidity, I'll spay a fine mist of distilled water (an RV'er should carry some already for the batteries) about 12" over the laptop.Then I'll use both the suction & blower to get as much dust and dirt out as possible. Sometimes I'll remove the CPU and really go to town on the heat sink with alcohol and a toothbrush.The whole idea is to get the dust and dirt off of the heat sinks and fan blades and sometimes, with some designs of laptops, you're going to have to open the case to do a good job. And that sometimes means taking it to a computer shop.

I've had a couple of those little vacs over the years. Useless, IMHO. A can of air will do a much better job. I would open whatever screwed-on access panels there are and blow out what I can get.Opening the case to really get in there brings the possibility of doing more harm than good. Sometimes components are glued or taped to the case.

If you have pets or the house is open to the outside it can be necessary to be extra clean, but no pets and closed up house, not such a big deal. Blow it out with canned air every once in a while, and don't eat and drink while using it.Absolutely agree with not opening the case unless you're familiar with the process. Easy to break plastic pieces for little benefit.

I use Read Right Kleen and Dry wipes on all parts of my laptop. They work great. Depending on the style of keyboard, you may need to blow out under the keys first.

Laptop cleaning & maintainance ...? | Good Sam Community

12 Replies

Jim
Explorer
Sep 22, 2018
Not really a brand hound myself, but I'd look for any small vac that has a black hose AND has both a suck and blow connection for the hose. That hose will often have been made with carbon black to color it and carbon is good for dissipating static. You're looking for a vacuum that has the marketing blerb "static dissipating" or "low static" or some such.

Then when I do a laptop cleanout, if it's low humidity, I'll spay a fine mist of distilled water (an RV'er should carry some already for the batteries) about 12" over the laptop.

Then I'll use both the suction & blower to get as much dust and dirt out as possible. Sometimes I'll remove the CPU and really go to town on the heat sink with alcohol and a toothbrush.

The whole idea is to get the dust and dirt off of the heat sinks and fan blades and sometimes, with some designs of laptops, you're going to have to open the case to do a good job. And that sometimes means taking it to a computer shop.
MitchF150
Nomad
Sep 22, 2018
Other than in a work place environment, I've never had the need to worry about such a thing..

My users in my corporate environment go thru more keyboards and mice than I can count... :)

Home use, unless you are eating cookies and spilling Coke, coffee, water, etc on your laptop, you should be fine with just compressed air at the most to get rid of the dust at most..

Good luck!

Mitch

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Laptop cleaning & maintainance ...?

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