5 Germ-Killing Products to Keep Your Gadgets Ick Free

There are about 400,000 bacteria on each of your hands. Unfortunately, that means everyday things you touch such as your keyboard, mouse, smartphone and tablet are crawling with microscopic organisms. In fact, studies have found that your desk is home to 400% more germs than a toilet seat. Your phone is especially likely to make you sick since you use it close to your eyes, nose and mouth. And It can harbor large amounts of coliform bacteria, the kind found in feces. Yuck, right?

If germs give you the ick factor, these products help you remove bacteria from your gear quickly and efficiently.

Keyboards

Logitech Washable Keyboard K310 for Windows PCs

The best way to nix germs is to physically remove them; that’s why you’re always being told to wash your hands. You suds up this keyboard (but not the USB cable) in up to 11 inches of water and as a bonus it can stand up to a coffee spill, as well. It comes with an attached brush to oust any gunk between the keys and includes drainage holes for fast drying.

Price: $39.99 at Logitech.com or $34.44 at Amazon.

Vioguard Self-Sanitizing Keyboard

Serious germaphobes may want to invest in this high-tech solution, which senses when you leave your desk and retracts the keyboard into an enclosure that uses ultraviolet light to kill 99.99% of microbes. The keyboard remains in the enclosure until you return and wave your hand over an infrared sensor to bring out the keyboard again.

Price: $699 at Vioguard.

Mice

Verilux CleanWave Sanitizing Travel Wand

Personally, I use a cotton ball lightly saturated with rubbing alcohol to clean my mouse, but if you’re looking for something more sophisticated, try this. It’s a wand the size of a travel umbrella that kills up to 99.9 percent of germs, viruses, bacteria, allergens, dust mite and flea eggs from hard surfaces and fabrics. CleanWave says it can kill MRSA and H1N1 virus in one second.

Price: Smaller unit: $59.95 on Verilux.com or $29.95 at Amazon, Larger unit: $99.95 on Verilux.com or $52.88 at Amazon

Cell phones

Violight UV Cellphone Sanitizer

Don’t use rubbing alcohol on any device with a screen, like your cell phone—it can degrade the coating that makes it resistant to fingerprints. This device is a good alternative. About the size of a hand soap dispenser, it uses dual UV bulbs powered with three AA batteries to destroy 99.9% of the bacteria on the surface of your phone as well as small objects, such as an MP3 player or ear buds.

Price: $49.95 at Violight.com or $24.99 at Amazon.

Tablets

Nano UV Water Disinfection & Surface Sanitizer

This is another device that uses UV light to disinfect hard surfaces like your tablet and does so in only 10 seconds. In 40 seconds it will even kill 99.9% of dangerous microorganisms in a glass of water, as well. Uses 4 AAA batteries and includes an automatic shut off.

Price: $82.59 at Amazon .

Or go low-tech

If the idea of spending money on technology to disinfect technology turns your stomach, we have an inexpensive option available to you. Just like washing your hands decreases the number of bacteria on them, cleaning a smartphone or tablet with alcohol-free screen wipes (a pack of 20 from GE is $2.56 at Amazon) will remove many germs fom your device. For hard surfaces like keyboards and mice, use rubbing alcohol and cotton balls or swabs—just make sure not to use so much that it leaks into the guts of the hardware.