In the spirit of keeping your workplace healthy, copier cleaning can’t be discounted. The printer/copier is an important asset that most, if not all, individuals in the office use, probably daily. With such traffic and physical traffic, the equipment can be a disease hotspot, stressing the need to regularly clean and disinfect. If there’s a silver lining that can be deduced from the devastating global pandemic, proper hygiene can’t be stressed enough. Covid-19 primary prevention measures include regularly washing hands and disinfecting surfaces. While the focal point in this period is keeping the infectious virus at bay, proper office hygiene helps in more ways.

Office hygiene helps you minimize sick days, keep the environment friendly, and avoid costly maintenance caused by dirt accumulation. Such contributions improve office productivity. While proper hygiene is essential, cleaning your office equipment, especially printers and copiers, can be tricky. Here are some of the precautions to facilitate safe and effective copier/printer cleaning efforts.

Unplug

Electrical shock is not fun. It could result in significant injuries. However, ensuring that your hands are not wet and turning the power switch off is not enough to avoid such an unpleasant experience as you clean and disinfect your copier/printer. Unplugging is the safest measure. This won’t be such a hassle since the printer doesn’t require some electrical engineering skills to plug it into your wall socket outlet. Simply pull it off, cutting the power supply.

Safe gear

For effective disinfection, using isopropyl alcohol is advisable. Use 70% isopropyl alcohol and 30% water. However, this means that you need protective gear to ensure that it doesn’t come into contact with your skin and eyes. The easiest hack to stay safe while using the mixture is wearing a disposable glove. Latex/nitrile gloves are readily available and affordable; you have no excuse to risk your safety while cleaning photocopiers/printers. While still on safety, it is advisable to ensure that you clean in a well-ventilated space and away from heat sources.

Careful with the copier

The last thing you want is for the cleaning liquid to drip in the copier, as that could cause significant damages. As such, you shouldn’t use fibrous materials, including paper towels, noting that they can hold more liquids. Instead, use a soft, lint-free cloth; a clean cotton cloth will do the trick but ensure that it is moist, not wet, to avoid dripping.

Slow and steady

The modern copiers are such a marvel. They feature advancements such touch screen control panel that makes the printing/copying process a breeze. While cleaning such a surface, you must be careful not to scratch or crack it. Gently wipe the surface in one direction. Don’t rub, as that could also see some cleaning liquid sipping in the gaps around the pane and into the machine, causing corrosion and significant damages.

After cleaning

Don’t turn on the copier/printer immediately after cleaning and disinfection. Instead, let it air dry, ensuring that you can’t see or feel any moisture on the surface.

Cleaning your office equipment can be tricky, but it is not a get-out-of-jail free-card to let it sit unattended. Giving it some love keeps its glow, not to mention that you could avoid some issues such as dust build-up that can affect its efficiency.