Precision of your mouse not what it used to be? Your mousepad may need cleaning. Scroll down for our easy step by step guide on how to clean your mousepad
How to Clean Your Mousepad in 6 Easy Steps
Your gaming gear puts up with a lot, from marathon sessions to the odd post-loss gamer flip-out (you always take it out on the ones you love), the least you can do is take care of it and give it a good clean once in a while. It's all too easy to ignore the pizza crumbs in your keyboard and the sticky fingerprints left on your mouse from an energy drink spillage during an all nighter. One part of your gaming setup that's often overlooked is your mousepad.
This unsung hero of gaming gear is surprisingly important to your setup. Having a less than clean mousepad can really affect the precision of your mouse. Make a habit of cleaning your mousepad properly and regularly to avoid dirt build-up. Here's the best way to clean your mousepad in 6 easy steps.
1. Determine the Fabric of Your Mousepad
The fabric of your mousepad will determine how deeply you need to clean it - maybe it's a neoprene mousepad or perhaps rubberized. Some mousepads are machine washable depending on the fabric, but we recommend to follow our guide instead as it’s the safest and best way of cleaning your mousepad without any risk of damaging it. This guide will work for all fabric mousepads if you follow the steps to the letter. If you have a pad that has a hard surface, particularly a plastic mousepad, you’re more than welcome to follow this guide, but all plastic mousepads really require is a wipe over with a damp cloth and a mild cleaner.
2. Fill a Bowl With Hot Water and Soap
Grab yourself a bowl or just use your kitchen sink, and fill it with hot water. Add a little hand soap and give it a swirl so it’s fully mixed in with the water. You could also substitute hand soap for dish soap - but hand soap is preferable since it’s softer and kinder to fabrics.
3. Submerge the Mousepad
Put your pad into the bowl or sink, and make sure to push it down so the water covers it and it’s fully submerged. Let it sit there in the water for a little while so any grease and dirt that’s been absorbed into the mousepad has time to dissolve.
4. Give Your Mousepad a Gentle Rub
Time to get your hands wet. Once your mousepad has been soaking for a while, go ahead and give it a rub with your hands. Remember to remain gentle with it so as not to damage the surface fabric, especially if you have a soft and sensitive mousepad. Be extra careful too if you have a mousepad with an illustration or graphic on it, since rubbing it can damage the design.
5. Rinse It Real Good
When you’re happy that you’ve given the mousepad enough of a deep massage to get all of the dirt and stains out of the layers of fabric, rinse it under the hot water tap until all traces of soap are gone and the water runs fully clear.
6. Air Your Mousepad Out
The best way to dry your mouse pad after it’s been washed is to just let it air dry inside or if possible hang it out in the sun. If you really are in a hurry to get back to gaming and don’t have time to let it air dry, you can use a hairdryer. But make sure to use the lowest heat setting and don’t get the hairdryer too close to your mousepad. Blasting your mousepad with too much heat can really damage the surface, so proceed with caution.
7. Keeping Your Mousepad Squeaky Clean Is Easy With SteelSeries
Follow these 6 simple steps for cleaning your mousepad, so you can be sure nothing is standing in your way of winning - not even a dirty mousepad. All mousepads by SteelSeries are made of the highest quality cloth and are super easy to clean, making optimizing your setup a doddle.
