Touching electronics with oily hands

Computer0304 · 10 Nov 2014

Is it safe to touch my electronics with hands with a tiny bit of vegetable oil after cooking or lotion on them? I always try to wash my hands before using my electronics to get rid of any residue on my hands. (I do use the towel to get rid of all the water from my hands because you know, water isn't the best friend of electronics) But sometimes I am worried since my hands still feels oily after washing my hands a lot and drying them well. Could this damage the keyboard of my computer, my laptop, or my tablet? (I use keyboard protector covers on my keyboards to protect them from spills) Or is this just a natural property of skin being oily?

maxie · 10 Nov 2014

Hi ... I doubt that you have much to worry about .. But if you want to be certain that your Hands are really clean and free from oily substances Swarfega works really well ...

CKWD · 10 Nov 2014

Hi Computer0304!

Touching electronics with dirty, oily, wet etc. hands is not a good idea. Hardware can be affected by many and the most little of things. If you are touching let's say the plastic enclosure/part on the side of the HDD and not the electronics inside, probably nothing bad would happen but still it's not advised.
In time keyboard, mouse, speakers etc. would first off get unpleasant to the touch and then there's always the possibility that something would get inbetween the parts (e.g. the keyboard). If your touchscreens have protection, you're fine, the only problem would be that it just gets unpleasant.
Continue always washing your hands well before using your electronics, you could also use sanitizer which wears off in a minute or so and your hands are dry from the water.

CK_WD

Layback Bear · 10 Nov 2014

One never know what is in hand lotion and how it might react with electronics.
I recommend only clean hands.

Computer0304 · 10 Nov 2014

Ok, so as long as I wash my hands as clean as possible with soap, I am fine, right? Because after putting on lotion and leaving it for about 1 hour, I always coincidently have to use my tablet or computer. After washing my hands vigorously, it seems that it always leaves a slick feeling as if there is some oil left from the lotion since I guess some lotion would be left because of the fact that oil does not mix with water and obviously there would have to be at least 0.1% left no matter what since nothing can be 100% clean. I guess this is just something that happens to hands naturally.

Edit: And I usually dont touch anything on my computer and tablet except anything external such as the touchscreen, keyboard, and mouse.

Digerati · 11 Nov 2014

I would not worry too much about your keyboard or mouse - because they are inexpensive to replace. But note even your natural skin oils can promote corrosion and more importantly, attract dust. So I would definitely recommend washing if you have kitchen grease or oils on your hands, and definitely before using touchscreens.

BUT, note that keyboards and mice are often more contaminated with bacterial than toilets!

Computer0304 · 12 Nov 2014

Itaregid said:

BUT, note that keyboards and mice are often more contaminated with bacterial than toilets!

Yep that makes a lot of sense since keyboards and mice are touched more than toilet seats in a day.

Digerati · 12 Nov 2014

Yep that makes a lot of sense since keyboards and mice are touched more than toilet seats in a day.

I think it is more the fact that toilets are cleaned more often, where keyboards and mice are rarely, if ever cleaned. Many people wash their hands before using the toilet and never do before sitting down at the computer. So keyboards are exposed to all sorts of dirty hands, food, drinks - not to mention the bio-hazards from people's mouths, noses, and eyes.

As noted through my link above,

Microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson said a keyboard was "a reflection of what is in your nose and gut".