A Better Mouse Bath

Peer into any computer keyboard. See anything? Say, crumbs of food jammed between the keys? Or dried coffee stains across the mouse?

In today’s information age--where most people eat, work and sleep next to their PC--dirt has become the enemy, says the staff at Computer Bath Products Co.

The Santa Ana firm specializes in finding ways to clean even the grungiest hardware. And for three years, the tiny five-person shop has gathered a loyal following with its mail-order business of cleansers, brushes, polishing cloths and other gadgets designed to tidy all sorts of technology products.

Founder Dennis Orloff thought up the idea while working in the computer repair business. Often, the solution required more elbow grease than technical savvy. Even worse, clients occasionally tried to clean their machines themselves by dunking them in the bathtub, ripping the keys off the keyboard or mopping the outside of the hard drive with a wet sponge and some clothing detergent.

“Dennis created this gentle cleaning solution and started giving it away to family and friends,” Computer Bath spokesman John Rogers said. “After about a year, he realized that he could start marketing this stuff.”

Computer Bath offers several products, from the $11.95 retail kit to the $249 expanded set aimed at cleaning large military installations.

The company’s customers include Kinko’s Copy Centers, the Marine Corps and Orange County public libraries, Rogers said.

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P.J. Huffstutter covers high technology for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at p.j.huffstutter@latimes.com