So, you’re finding delicate control with your mouse to be difficult? All you want to do is nudge the arrow on the screen by a fraction of an inch, but for some reason it keeps on jumping all over the place?

Well, here’s a tip that applies to optical mice which emit a red glow and mechanical mice (the older type with a ball in the base). For another tip on how to clean mechanical mice, have a look here).

To begin, turn the mouse on its back (reassure him by tickling his tummy). Look on the underside of your mouse. There will either be four pads (or ‘feet’) in the corners, or a couple of strips running across the top and bottom. If any gray gunk has accumulated on these, scrape it off and use some water (or that other popular cleaning solution – spit) to get them nice and clean.

That gunk (mostly made up of your old skin cells) is sticky and this makes the mouse stick to the mouse mat. Get rid of it and everything will run smoothly once again!

~ Richard Corfield