Germ Prevention – KeySmart CleanKey and NanoStylus Reviewed

By Nathan Kirsch

With governments around the world unlocking their countries from the initial COVID-19 lockdown, many are starting to venture out and about for the first time. In most areas the 1st phase of opening things backup includes religious places and places of worship for the public; hotels, restaurants, construction sites and other hospitality services; and shopping malls. This means millions are going to places other than the grocery store.

COVID-19 spreads mainly through respiratory droplets from an infected person, which is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that it is best to avoid close person to person contact under 6 feet. It also may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose or eyes.

So, what are we supposed to do to stay safe as we venture back out into restaurants and other businesses? The folks over at CURV Group have a number of items that they believe will keep you a little safer. One of those times is the KeySmart CleanKey ($20.99) Brass Hand Tool. This copper alloy tool attaches to your key chain and helps you avoid touching public touchscreens and opens most doors with levers and pull handles. It also comes with a free retractable carabiner that has a belt/pocket loop on the back. They also have the KeySmart NanoStylus ($11.99) that helps you draw, click or write on screens that you don’t want to chance hurting.

KeySmart CleanKey and NanoStylus

The copper alloy used on the CleanKey is made with 70% Copper and 30% Zinc and according to the manufacturer is able to kill over 99.9% of bacteria within 2 hours. A study recently published in the New England Medical Journal by researchers here in the United States looked at the survival of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on a variety of surfaces including plastic, stainless steel and copper among others. The results revealed that the virus was still detected on plastic and stainless steel after 72 hours! Testing on copper showed that SARS-CoV-2 was no longer visible after 4 hours and SARS-CoV-1 was no longer visible after 8 hours. So, maybe Brass with its composition of Copper and Zinc does a touch better like the claims on the packing.

CleanKey by KeySmart

The CleanKey is about as simple of a product as it gets and has the sole purpose of reducing your point-of-contact areas outside your home. You can use it to open doors, ring doorbells, press elevator buttons, buttons on the gas pump, at the ATM machine and possibly even turn on light switches or the water in some lever style sinks. The only place the CleanKey won’t work well at all is on traditional round door knobs. It also works on touchscreens and should not destroy the screens as all the edges have been rounded over and are smooth. Being brass it is also easy to clean with a disinfectant wipe as it will not corrode or damage the uncoated copper alloy 260 that is used for the CleanKey.

There are generic contactless door openers on the market that cost less, but most are painted metal or a mystery metal that has been clear coated. The CleanKey is uncoated as it needs to be for the germ killing properties to work properly.

CleanKey for COVID-19 Prevention By KeySmart

The CleanKey won’t open every door you encounter, but it will help you keep your hands off most doors that are used by commercial businesses. We have entered a period of time where we need to minimize our contact with public surfaces, so products like the CleanKey will help you do just that.

For situations where you need to use a stylus with more precision, the NanoStylus ensures you’ll be able to sign your name on most systems that require a stylus! It also comes backed by a 2-year warranty, so if the tip breaks or comes off it is covered for that length of time.

With Father’s Day coming up something like the CleanKey ($20.99) and NanoStylus ($11.99) are affordable items in a time period where we need to be concerned with the surfaces that our loved ones are touching. 2020 is shaping up to be all about germ prevention!

Bonus How A CleanKey is Made Video: