Accessories for your Apple devices can add up quickly and before you know it they’re also looking a lot dirtier than when you first unboxed them. Follow along for the best ways to clean your first- and third-party accessories.

AirPods

Last week we covered some of the best ways to clean your AirPods and charging case. Now, we’re tackling the plethora of other Apple accessories. In particular, with the majority of Apple’s first-party accessories being white, they end up dirty more quickly than other accessories.

How to clean your Apple cables, keyboards, mice, trackpads, and more

If you don’t have these items on hand, it’s definitely worth picking them up. They don’t cost much and you’ll get a lot of mileage out of them.

1. Microfiber cloths (having some thin and some thick is handy)
2. Canned air or a manual blower
3. Screen cleaner or eyeglass cleaner
4. Flosser picks
5. Cotton Swabs
6. Alcohol swabs
7. Blu Tack (sticky tack)

Cables

Cleaning cables is super easy with alcohol swabs. Simply wipe down the cables and they’ll look about as good as the day you first got them. The alcohol removes all the grease and dirt that builds up over time and gives your cables that fresh look and feel.

Keyboards

Whether it’s your MacBook or MacBook Pro keyboard, standalone Magic Keyboard or a third-party one, keyboards can be tricky to clean.

There is a specific little dance Apple recommends with canned air (or a manual blower) and rotating its keyboard.

If that doesn’t do the trick, using a flossing pick can be just the right tool to remove crumbs and other build up without trying to remove keys (not recommended). Blue Tack can be a valuable tool here to pick up gunk in touch to reach spots.

Cotton swabs are helpful if you need to do a bit of scrubbing. Use a microfiber cloth and some screen cleaner to wipe down your keyboard to finish.

Mice and trackpads

These accessories are usually easier to clean with fewer places for junk and crumbs to collect. You can always just use a dab of water and your microfiber cloth. Alternatively, some opt to use a homemade cleaning mixture of rubbing alcohol and distilled water or screen cleaner.

Make sure to use distilled water to keep away minerals and deposits that tap water could leave behind.

Apple TV Remote and more

Just like above, the Apple TV Remote is easily cleaned with a microfiber cloth and a cleaning solution. When it comes to where the aluminum body meets the top black plastic portion, the flosser picks are great to remove any build up.

The same tools are perfect for cleaning your dirty AirPods and charging case, check out our specific guide on that here.

For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:

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