It's very easy to do! And you should probably do it, considering you've probably never done it before.
Of course, like most cleaning things, test an INCONSPICIOUS SPOT for color fastness. If it passes that test, here's how to do it:
- Make sure the sink you're doing the cleaning in is clean! I do this in the bathroom sink after having cleaned it earlier in the day.
- Run cold water over it, getting it wet.
- Squirt a little bit of (regular human hair) shampoo on it. Using your fingers, rub it to work up a lather. Add more shampoo as needed.
- Be disgusted as you see all the dirty water coming off of it.
- Scrub the back a little, too, to get off any dust or gunk stunk to it.
- Rinse off all the soap. Feel free to do a second round of shampooing, if you want.
- Blot off the water with a towel so it's not sopping wet.
- Hang it up to dry. If you don't have a laundry hanging thing, you can use pants hangers with clips or hang it over a towel bar or something (if you have one of those huge desk-spanning mouusepads).
- Let fully dry before returning it to your desk.
- Marvel at how bright and vibrant your mousepad is!
As you can tell, this is my mousepad from the 90's. I'm sure I got it at a Circuit City, or maybe a Radioshack. I used Dr. Bronner's because I've turned into one of those people that uses Dr. Bronner's for a lot of things, but I've done it with regular shampoo, too. Probably don't use your shampoo that includes a little hair dye in it to keep your dyed hair nice and bright. If you have Folex, you could probably use that, too, without getting the whole thing wet. (Folex is really good for spot treatment. I got it for my fursuit because it was white and you NEED to keep that super bright and clean).