Your keyboard and mouse are filthy. That’s not us peering through the monitor and looking at you, it’s a fact backed up by research.
The actual amount of filth on a keyboard varies from person to person, but on average, a keyboard has 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat. Why are we talking about toilet seats and keyboards though?
Well for one, we’re still dealing with a harrowing pandemic and ASUS has highlighted something that could help keep bacteria away from you.
That something is the ASUS Antibacterial Guard which coats the Zenbook and Vivobook range of notebooks. This silver-ion coating is said to prevent bacteria from reproducing on plastic and other non-porous surfaces.
“Our Antibacterial Guard forestalls the growth of microbial pests with a silver-ion coating. The silver ions’ positive charge draws the microbes’ negative charge the same way a kitchen magnet sticks to your refrigerator. Upon contact, the silver ions pierce the surface of the bacterial cells, scrambling their structure and preventing them from reproducing. Scientific tests show that the Antibacterial Guard inhibits the growth of bacteria on plastics and other non-porous surfaces by more than 99%,” ASUS writes in a press release.
In its testing, ASUS found that bacteria growth on treated surfaces was limited to 16 compared to 28 000 bacteria on an untreated surface over a 24 hour period. The bacteria in question were Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, two of the most common bacteria in the home.
ASUS claims that the protective surface will last three years of “normal usage” and will survive wipe downs to get rid of dust and debris.
While that is all good and well, we urge you to spend some time cleaning your peripherals every so often. Keyboards are harbours for bacteria. Before you starting using all manner of solvents and chemicals, check what material your components are made of and insure the cleaning materials you are using won’t cause damage.
We’ve found that Windowlene works rather well (not a sponsor) together with kitchen towel and a soft cloth. Where possible, avoid flooding the keyboard or other components. Spray a bit of solvent on a cloth and wipe your tech down.
The ASUS Antibacterial Guard can be found on the following notebooks but be sure to look out for a sticker on ASUS notebooks that highlight the feature.
- Vivobook Go 14 Flip
- Vivobook 15
- Vivobook S 14 Flip OLED
- Vivobook S 14 OLED
- Vivobook Pro 14 OLED
- Vivobook 15X OLED.
