If you’re on the cutting edge of peripheral technology, chances are you’ve picked up an ultra-light perforated mouse. These FPS-friendly mice make it much easier on your wrist when you’re trying to hit enemies with snapshots, and also help to make browsing the web a breeze. But at some point, you’re going to have to clean them, just like any other mouse.
However, unlike other mice, perforated mice also come with dozens of tiny crevices for you to get into and clean. It might sound like a chore, but with a little practice it can become as simple as any other part of your regular PC maintenance routine. You are regularly maintaining your PC, right? Good, good, had us worried there for a bit. Here’s how to clean mice with holes in them and keep your setup ultra-light and ultra-clean.
How to clean mice with holes in them
Ultra-light mice like the HyperX Pulsefire Haste will likely have two types of weight-reducing cut outs to help keep your wrist from getting fatigued easily. The first, located nearer the base of the palmrest, will go straight through. These are the ones that you can see your mousemat through. The others will end up inside the cavity filled with switches and wires and other electronic magic gizmos that make your mouse do mouse things.
The first exterior-type holes are a little easier to clean, for one thing you don’t need to worry about prodding into sensitive electronics. Though the holes are quite small, if you pick up a simple set of pipe cleaners you’ll be able to brush through them with ease to get rid of any stubborn dust mites that get stuck in there. However, that can take a while, and if you aren’t leaving it too long between cleans (at which point stubborn dust mites will appear) then you can use the same method for cleaning exterior and interior holes.
As the interior of the mouse houses electronics and is usually enclosed, the holes which lead into the main enclosure won’t let you feed a pipe cleaner all the way through. You also shouldn’t go around poking at those sensitive electronics with metal pipe cleaners, anyway. Instead, grab a can of compressed air (like you use to clean your PC’s fans and interiors) and go to town. Those of you with a Pulsefire Haste Wireless may find this easier without wires to get in your way. If you do end up getting something a little sticky in there which isn’t budged by the compressed air, don't panic. Instead of feeding a pipe cleaner through, get a cotton swab and spin it in the hole to try to dislodge it.
If something seriously sticky is gumming up the hole, you may need to do a bit of light disassembly to get the electronics away from the gunk before tackling it. Once it’s safe and you aren’t going to get those internal switches and wires wet, dampen the cotton ear bud with a small amount of water or plastic-safe solvent (like rubbing alcohol) and give it another scrub. If it’s not coming off with rubbing alcohol, then you should just take better care of your mouse, dude, what did you actually get in there? Chewing gum? Epoxy? Yikes.
That should be all you need to know about how to clean mice with holes in them. If you’re after more tips to keep your PC gear clean then check out our other articles and learn something!
