# My mouse is dirty - I know I'll soak it in hot water! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083 "2003-01-16T22:29:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/1 "2003-01-16T22:29:05Z")
What a wonderful day 🙂 Just gotten to work to find out that my boss who is having all sorts of problems with his computer (virus related) decided last night to clean his mouse. Seems it was sticking a bit and the cord kept getting tangled, so the obvious solution (to him) was to clean it and of course the easiest way to do that is to soak it in hot water overnight! Oh dear lord how am I going to explain this to the tech guy… ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/2 "2003-01-16T22:39:49Z")
Easy, just hand it to the techie and say “I think it’s time you and [bossman] should have a little talk about the facts of life…” ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/3 "2003-01-16T22:42:36Z")
Lucky you don’t have an office cat. ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/4 "2003-01-16T23:23:45Z")
Ooooh an office cat that would be very cool. I’d love to see my boss try and soak the cat 😛 I’ve emailed the tech guy to expain whats happened and as he was going to drop by and de-virus our computers he can replace the mouse at the same time and expain to the boss why it was a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![hampster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/53a042/32.png) [@hampster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hampster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/5 "2003-01-17T01:19:34Z")
Oddly enough though, a network-admin friend of mine says most PC keyboards are dishwasher safe. Though sadly my mac 'board with the clear plastic isn’t. (I stil wouldn’t try it, even tho. I trust him implicitly.) hampster: who is allergic to cats. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/6 "2003-01-17T01:38:08Z")
See, this is why everyone should have trackballs instead of mice. Because people (well, guys at least) will take care of something with “ball” in the name! (Plus, we’ll get to make all kinds of “I’m polishing my trackball!” jokes.) ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/7 "2003-01-17T01:44:28Z")
**leechbabe** , I have a notoriously technically inept friend who’s feeling a bit down right now. I’ll tell him this story. It’ll make him feel better. Heck, it’s already got me laughing out loud! Good luck with your boss – it sounds like you need it! 😃😃 CJ ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/8 "2003-01-17T01:59:34Z")
Somebody better send this to the DNRC. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/9 "2003-01-17T02:01:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by leechbabe \* > \*\*Just gotten to work to find out that my boss who is having all sorts of problems with his computer (virus related) decided last night to clean his mouse. Seems it was sticking a bit and the cord kept getting tangled, so the obvious solution (to him) was to clean it and of course the easiest way to do that is to soak it in hot water overnight! > \*\* Does your boss by any chance have pointy hair? ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/10 "2003-01-17T02:22:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by photopat \* > \*\*Does your boss by any chance have pointy hair? \*\* _Wooosh_ 😕 He’s slightly balding if thats any help 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouse-is-dirty-i-know-ill-soak-it-in-hot-water/149083/11 "2003-01-17T02:37:01Z")
dilbert reference. > **[Welcome to Dilbert](https://dilbert.com/)** > > The Official Dilbert Website featuring Scott Adams Dilbert strips, animation, mashups and more starring Dilbert, Dogbert, Wally, The Pointy Haired Boss, Alice, Asok, Dogberts New Ruling Class and more. mr adams is a bit scary sometimes, he seems to have a weird sense of what is going on in offices throughout the world.