Magic Erasers are awesome
So if you haven’t already bought something like this... don’t! I’ve found a solution (one among many, just google ‘clean macbook’ and you’ll get a slew of hits), and it is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Not only do they take crayon and spaghetti sauce off of painted walls without damage (at least walls with a matte finish), but they also get that icky brown junk off of your laptop. Here is a high contrast photo of the before shot:

Notice the area where my left palm rests. Very dark and dirty. Compare that with the right palm area, which I had cleaned before I decided to show a before and after photo set. Also take note of the ring of dirt on the trackpad. Now take a look after a short while of carefully cleaning with the Magic Eraser:

My first thought was “Amazing!!” I’ve been living with this dirt for some time (got my MacBook in Feb of 2007), so I am so very relieved that I don’t have to live with this dirt forever.
Here is the power cord, which has taken a significantly greater amount of abuse than my MacBook:


So, if you don’t feel like wrapping your machine in dirt prophylactics, just use your machine like you normally do and then give it a nice scrubbing with a Magic Eraser to shine it back to like new luster.
Posted by Steve on Sunday, September 21, 2008