The image doesn't show the fingernail scrape technique on the wheels that the ball drives. That cotton swap isn't going to get that off you need some elbow grease and a fingernail!
this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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Satisfying and gross at the same time.
Actually using a standard cheap mouse on a desk without a mousepad will generate the same crap along the pads, it doesn't come off so crisply but reminds me of this every time.
Any fingernail?
Preferably a toenail.
One old tech thing I don't miss.
People actually washed that ball?
With soap and stuff?
I just used my nail to clean the roller things inside the ball area, and then put it back together. Never had a problem.
These people were fancy.
Only reason I stopped using a ballouse is mine just broke
Fuck it, we ball
Yeah, hated boiling the eggs every week or so.
Came to the comments to check for this.
Exactly why I opened the comments as well.
Those balls were usually steel ball bearings with a synthetic rubber wrapped around it. They gave the entire mouse some weight which made the mouse feel better to use. You could clean them with something like soap, but you'd have to be careful not to use anything that messed up the rubber. Some people cleaned them wrong, which caused the rubber to become more sticky and thus get dirty sooner. You'd also risk the rubber becoming harder and not sticky enough, so they would slip a lot. They were basically a pain in the ass and I'm happy we've moved on from that.
For me the extra resistance the mass gave against acceleration made it really good for playing first-person shooters.
Some gaming mice these days come with small weights you can put in the bottom to adjust the heft
I have had a G5, G500 and G502 that used weights. That made them nicer. I think there's probably a bit of a difference between static weights tbat need to be accelerated and a rolling ball that has to start rolling, but I'm not sure. Maybe they are equivalent. I should find a ball mouse and try CS2 with it. 😅
Got it: be careful when rubbing the balls otherwise they’ll get too sticky or hard
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I do. When modern mouses stop working, I feel useless.
When I have to lower myself to the filthy gutter of having to use the mouse at all, I feel like an itchy scrotum in need of a lye bath.
keyboard master race
These worked on glass. Almost nothing today works on a glass table but these did
I use a thumb-trackball (and have since the 90s). They work on glass. Hell, they work on my lap or beside me if I'm in bed. And no space needed to move around.
Every week or two I pop the ball out and give it a quick wipe with a lenscloth.
Are you an adult by night?
I used these religiously until the carpal tunnel from phone scrolling set in
Preach the good word, partner
I love my thumb-trackball. Doesn't matter where I use it, it will always work.
This comment made me curious so I tested the two mice I use regularly.
My Logitech G502 tracks very poorly on glass and is basically unusable.
My MX Anywhere 2S lives up to its name and seems to track perfectly fine.
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I loved breaking the little dust rolls wrapped around the direction shafts
I'd let you rub my direction shaft any time.
Yeah man, it was so satisfying
For a long time I thought those were built-in special rolls.
Did anyone actually clean their mice like this?
Yeah, you kinda had to at a certain point, the gunk would inhibit the ball from rolling freely.
Id get in there with my child fingers and scratch the was of gunk off. Usually id end up wedging it in the housing but thats my dad's problem.
I remember cleaning the ball once or twice, yes, when it got too bad to ignore.
Mostly the gunk accumulated on the rollers, though (and under the mouse, like in optical ones), and that was easier and faster to just scratch off with your nail... except for the little third wheel (seen on the bottom left picture) that kept the ball centered, of course, because that one wasn't only smaller but on a spring, making it almost impossible to scratch the gunk off of.
There was also the occasional hair tangled up on a roller, of course, which was almost impossible to remove. Those you just pushed aside onto the roller's axle and hoped the mouse would die of some electrical failure before the poor thing got too full of hair to roll.
There was always a kind of lint that would develop on the wheel inside. I've got no idea what it was made out of.
Usually just actual lint and dust. You'd have to kinda crack break it off then sprinkle it on the floor or blow it into the air on your friend sitting next to you.
Or make a secret ball collection and the school would panic.
Yes.
My first job was IT Assistant at a manufacturing company. I spent at least 50% of my time cleaning mice.
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Never washed the ball. I did clean out the runners inside though. They hid away dead skin grime and pet fur better than any keyboard ever will.
Edit: I give my work keyboard a tip and tap once a week or so and have been asked why I do it. I explained it's basically a hygeine thing, explaining why, and was told it's disgusting. Encouraged colleagues to do it and they were mortified with the mess left on their desks. It was like they just dealt with the consequences of opening up their car engine after neglecting to oil change for 150,000 miles.
WHO'S DISGUSTING NOW????
They can try take the high road, but I've seen how many icons are on their desktops, so I basically know how messy their bedroom floor is.
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