Possible to properly "disinfect" a keyboard?

[GRollins]

Nobody's mentioned ultraviolet light. Excellent germicidal properties and nowhere near as fiddly as wiping down the keys every ten minutes.

 

The only downside I can see is that UV will attack plastics over time. Then we're back to the "How long will we have to do this?" question. Days? Weeks? Months? A year or two? As a days to weeks approach, it's a no-brainer. If you're looking at months, possibly years, then...yeah, you're going to see some yellowing and maybe some shrinkage, over the long haul there's the possibility of cracking.

 

Note that some keys may be made of more resistant plastics than others, so UV might be a better option for some keyboards than others.

 

Grey

[Dr Mike Metlay]

I am going to be at Synthplex in about three weeks, and I am offering a "petting zoo" of alternate controllers for people to try out. They're made of all kinds of materials, some of them potentially porous; I am going to REQUIRE (and enforce) that people use hand sanitizer, wait for it to dry, and THEN touch the controllers. Anyone who doesn't do this will be asked to leave.

 

It's far easier to disinfect people than surfaces in cases like this. I will also restrict anyone showing any obvious symptoms of illness from touching stuff. (Well, not mental illness, that would leave out most synth players. Y'all know what I mean.)

 

EDIT: this assumes that Synthplex is even going forward; Musik Messe was just postponed to an as yet undetermined later date....

 

mike

 

[Stokely]

Nobody's mentioned ultraviolet light. Excellent germicidal properties and nowhere near as fiddly as wiping down the keys every ten minutes.

 

The only downside I can see is that UV will attack plastics over time. Then we're back to the "How long will we have to do this?" question. Days? Weeks? Months? A year or two? As a days to weeks approach, it's a no-brainer. If you're looking at months, possibly years, then...yeah, you're going to see some yellowing and maybe some shrinkage, over the long haul there's the possibility of cracking.

 

Note that some keys may be made of more resistant plastics than others, so UV might be a better option for some keyboards than others.

 

Grey

 

Can definitely attest to it breaking down plastics, or at least certain kinds. I got a new fish tank filter with a built-in UV, and over time it completely disintegrated the innards close to where the light went down into the filter. I did some surgery using some kind of pvc that was supposed to be resistant, and to be sure, that was running all day every day and it still took a while to break the plastic down.

[EricBarker]

Masks are a hot topic. My takeaway: they CAN help prevent infection to some degree if they are the right type and they are worn properly. However, most people probably won't, and fiddling with the uncomfortable things defeats the purpose. Also, the practical reason to avoid them is simply that the medical people are running out of them, and they are the ones that REALLY need them. My brother is nurse at a hospital here, and they already have shortages of masks.

This is pretty much accurate. As it was explained to me, masks are about 100x more effective if reserved for people who already have the virus. Stopping an out-going cough from getting all over surfaces is WAY more efficient than having a healthy person wear a mask to avoid catching it in the face. 9x out of 10, people don't get these diseases by someone directly coughing on them. They end up your hands from touching surfaces, and they eventually make their way to your face (the average person touches their face about 90x a day). So when you put it into logical perspective, a mask isn't really going to do much, except for those rare cases where someone coughs up in your business. Medical professionals, however, ARE leaning over people who are hacking up a storm, so they should be worried about direct face-to-face contact. But for the person on the street, if someone in the subway starts coughing, just turn away or ask them to cover their mouth (with their arm, of course).

 

As for how long the virus can survive in the air, I suspect a lot of it is hypothetical as to whether it's in droplets or not. i would assume that if it's dried up, it's gonna die very quickly. But that's almost never the case. Usually it's hiding in some water or mucus droplet. Something that's (temporarily) not all that different from begin inside a body. It eventually dies naturally after 9 days because it has no where to propagate. Each viral cell doesn't live that long, it has to reproduce.

[MuzikTeechur]

In my keyboard lab at school, I have 12 keyboards, plus a grand piano, and a Yamaha Clavinova. I use lysol disinfectant wipes on them. Also, the past two days (one rotation through our schedule) I've had every student take out their phone, take a lysol wipe, and clean their phones and cases.

 

 

[TommyRude]

Here's a popular disinfectant

[ProfD]

A few places like Wal-Mart/Sam's Club for the longest time have had a container of sanitizer wipes in the front of the store for wiping hands, shopping carts and baskets.

 

Beyond the pandemic, I believe free hand sanitizer and wipes in public places will become more commonplace. Maybe the music stores will follow suit.

 

Not to downplay the pandemic but the cynic/comedian in me finds it interesting how quickly items sell out (wipes, masks, Lysol spray, etc;) when the media spreads an issue.

 

Reminds me of how the mention of snow fall around here forces people to run out and buy enough food stuff and supplies to last a week when the average snow melts in 1-2 days.

 

Since they don't break down quite like toilet paper, I hope the landfills and waste systems don't get clogged up with a sh8tload of wipes.