An illustrated guide about cleaning a slow and sluggish mouse in 2 seconds with just a piece of white paper.
If you are using an external laser or optical mouse with your laptop or desktop computer, you probably know the problems that surface after using the mouse for couple of weeks - the mouse feels sticky or is hard to move especially when you are using it without the mouse pad, the pointer on the screen may not move smoothly with the mouse or jump.
Most of these mouse problem are because of the dust that sticks to the bottom of the mouse surface at points that are in constant touch with the table or the mouse pad - see the red arrows in the above picture - the white circles are actually made from accumulated dust that is disrupting the smooth movements of the mouse.
To solve this problem, hold the mouse over a piece of white paper and gently (but firmly) drag the mouse from the top edge of the paper to the bottom as shown in the picture below.
You will see a trail of grease like substance on the paper - you can also repeat the process sideways - just move the mouse on paper from left to right. You will enjoy using mouse once again as all the wax is transferred from the bottom of the mouse to the paper.
It is advisable that you also clean the grease or wax sticking to your mouse pad or table surface (when not using a pad) atlease once a week. Dip a piece of cloth in mild soap water solution and gently rub - wipe with a clean dry cloth or tissue paper.
The trick is illustrated using Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 with Intellipoint software but should work just perfect with any mouse including those for the Mac.
Related: How to Clean Laptop LCD Screen
Find this article at: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/07/clean-mouse-with-white-paper-for-smooth.html
web: http://www.labnol.org/ email: amit@labnol.org
Reader Comments
simple and neat tip. really helped.
Written on 6/7/07 12:27 PM
doesn't work for stubborn "mouse wax" ;P I use the blunt edge of a ball point pen's cap.
Written on 6/7/07 1:03 PM
A simple trick to solve not-so-unseen problem. Thanks a lot Amit. Not just for this post but the hundred others i have been gaining information thorough in my rss reader :)
Written on 6/7/07 5:24 PM
Excellent tip ! Really works well (just tried it).
Written on 6/7/07 6:56 PM
hey thanks! its really the most wonderful trick I ever read... I am sure most people will be thankful to you for this tip.
I couldnt have done without it... you could possibly miss the sarcasm..
Written on 6/7/07 7:13 PM
that tip was great :O
Works perfect.
Written on 6/7/07 7:19 PM
Using fingernails to scrape the dust off the mouse does the trick, too.
Written on 6/7/07 7:37 PM
Just tape the paper down and use as a mouse pad, when dirty replace. Don't worry somebody else has the patent, I checked. Cheap paper works best.
Written on 6/7/07 7:43 PM
Wow. Cool tip. Thanks.
Written on 7/7/07 1:07 AM
nice & cool tip! It works excellently!Thanks!
Written on 7/7/07 8:49 AM
Thanks for sharing the tip. It actually worked.
Written on 7/7/07 8:48 PM
thanks a lot amit bhai it worked
Written on 8/7/07 5:12 PM
wow i thought it was a battery problem. thanx uncle
Written on 8/7/07 11:22 PM
eco-friendly tip:-
just a little change, instead of blank white paper, we can take a rough used paper/newspaper .etc.
Written on 8/7/07 11:48 PM
How do I keep my mouse clean? I use an optical mouse :P
Written on 9/7/07 10:46 AM
I use an optical mouse and would like to clean the scrolling wheel but there is no advice for this. How can this be done? A lot of people would like to know and there is no advice on internet. Thanks
Written on 10/8/07 7:39 AM