5 Smart Ways to Use DIY Cleaning Slime or Putty

Need a way to clean your laptop keyboard right now? Looking for something that will clear the ganks that build up on the devices you use regularly?

Clearing putty or slime is becoming an increasingly popular solution. But how can you make cleaning putty? How to remove it without becoming sticky? Here’s how to make your own DIY cleaning slime and then get to work.

Make your own cleansing slime

In order to immediately start cleaning your gadget from your gadgets, you will need to make a cleaning slime. Start by grabbing rubber gloves and measuring out the following ingredients:

1 ½ cups warm water
¼ cup borax (NOTE: There is a risk of burns as borax is caustic. Use rubber gloves when mixing.)
5 oz white PVA glue

To make your slime:

Mix a cup of water with borax, stirring until completely dissolved.
In a separate container, mix the remaining half glass of water with glue. (If you want colored slime, add a couple drops of food coloring at this point)
Stir the borax liquid into the adhesive mixture, turning it from a sticky residue into a hard putty. (If it refuses to set, add more borax, a teaspoon at a time.)
Once the mixture has set, place it in a large bowl or on a flat surface and knead like bread dough.

When pinched, the mucus should roll into a ball that looks a bit like sticky putty. If it doesn’t, keep mixing; don’t put it anywhere near your tech until it hardens.

This video demonstrates how to make slime with fewer ingredients: PVA glue, baking soda, and contact lens cleaner.

Don’t want to make cleaning slime? Buy it instead

Making slime can be difficult for you. After all, there is danger if you are wrong. Then there is the cleaning afterwards. So what’s the solution?

Luckily, several retailers stock slimes that can be used in a similar way. Visbella cleaning putty is one example that can pick up dust, dirt, crumbs, hair and other contaminants.

5 Ways to Clean with DIY Cleaning Putty

With the freshly prepared cleaning gel ready to use, you can put it to good use. A typical technical cleaning with putty includes:

Keyboard cleaning (especially laptops)
Get the gank out of the speaker jack or charging port on your phone
Cleaning a computer mouse
Clean the air vents on your car
Picking up dust from standing equipment such as PCs and game consoles

Here’s a little more on how to clean with DIY cleaning putty.

1. Clean your keyboard with a cleaning gel

Clean Keyboard With DIY Putty

The number one reason to use a cleaning gel is to remove crumbs and dirt from your keyboard.

While desktop keyboards are prone to getting dirty, they are generally easier to clean than laptop keyboards. Here you need to be careful how you clean your device. Break the putty into small balls the size of your thumb to collect the dirt.

Applying putty to the keyboard might seem like a good idea to save time, but it invariably ends up leaving bits of putty behind. It just leads to even more dirt on the keys on the keyboard.

Cleaning your keyboard is important to keep your device in good working order. Keyboard Fix not easy.

2. Clean your phone or tablet with slime

Smartphones and tablets accumulate dirt not only on the display (thanks to greasy fingers), but also in the body and ports.

Cases tend to pick up dirt when you put your device in your pocket or bag. Ports can also find small pieces of debris crammed inside. Cleaning putty or slime are ideal for unblocking these areas. A short purge and soon you’ll be reconnecting your headphones or charging your device.

Need more help? Here’s how to clean your iPhone’s charging port. iPhone charging port.

3. Unblock dirt from the mouse

Anyone who has ever used a mouse has spent time hacking dirt off the buttons or underside. In the days of the ball mouse, this meant removing the ball and cleaning the wheels inside. Less cleaning is required these days, but sweat, grease and grime still accumulate.

Buttons, any ergonomic handles, and even the wheel can become clogged. Use cleaning putty to get into these areas and grab the dirt.

4. Cleaning the vents with putty

The grilles on your car’s air vent are sure to accumulate a lot of dust. Since the grate spacing is too small to be wiped down with a rag, cleaning putty is the answer.

Simply press the putty onto the grates one at a time to collect dust and dirt. Take the time (with the ignition off) to clean the buttons on the steering wheel with slime. Anything that your thumb swings regularly is likely to accumulate dirt. You can also clean up crumbs between the two front seats if you regularly put snacks in there.

5. Use cleaning slime to pick up dust

Remove dust from your computer with slime

Some household appliances look like giant dust magnets.

Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, TVs and PCs are key examples. By using cleaning slime, you can easily pick up the dust and dirt that automatically accumulates.