The AFL Telecommunications One-Click Cleaner captured my fancy just yesterday, mostly because its convenience and portability factors are through the roof - it’s basically a pen-shaped cleaning tool for fiber optic connectors and adapters, and to be quite honest, it reminds me of those One-Touch blood glucose meters that one always sees TV commercials for. Now, the One-Click won’t do anything to help monitor your blood sugar levels, but it does have a design that’s compact, all-inclusive, and intended for multiple uses (500, to be exact!) – just like the portable blood sugar testers. But the nice thing about the One-Click is that it doesn’t involve sticking your fingers (phew).

So, as for how it works – it’s very easy really. One of the chief charms of the One-Touch connector cleaner is that it has no need at all for things like isopropyl alcohol or cleaning solutions – instead, it relies on a self-forwarding cleaning tape to take care of the so-called dirty work. And you’ll really like this – the cleaning and tape-advancing take place all in one step – you just insert the One-Click’s tip into a fiber optic connector, and push until you here a click (hence the name). That’s it. In the time it takes to hear that sound, the cleaning tool automatically forwards to a fresh section of tape, makes solid contact with the connector’s backplane, and rotates to pick up dust, oils, lint, and other debris. You don’t even have to bother twisting your wrist.