Keyboard Cleaning
How do you clean your keyboard? Personally, I take the “shake and quake” approach. Some have suggested that I actually place the peripheral into a dishwasher to get all the gunk out. Others have suggested removing the keys and soaking it in a bathtub. No, I honestly think the best approach is to get a new keyboard every year (even though compressed air is fun to shoot). Seriously, these things aren’t usually all that expensive - at least, the ones I’d suggest chucking on a regular basis. Unfortunately, they don’t make my favorite model anymore (A Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro with two USB ports off the back). I’m either stuck with a sticky keyboard, or forced to find a new favorite.
Yeah, so subscribe to my YouTube channel or I’ll shake your keyboard next time. I’ve also posted five ways to clean your keyboard over on Lockergnome.
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9 Comments
Rob Gibson
February 27th, 2007
at 6:23am
Have you ever tried to go back to the IBM Model M keyboards? I have one for work and one for home. They have such a satisfied look and feel, and they are nearly indestructable. Plus, you can remove the keycaps to clean them and have better access to the underlying keyboard tray to get the nasty crumbs and sticky liquids out of there…
Robert Frederick
February 27th, 2007
at 1:45pm
I don’t know what happened to my earlier comment on this article But I meant to mention that the Dishwasher method has worked 100% for me. I always remove the circuit board, cable and membrane first. if they can’t be removed,better to go with the longer method of cleaning by hand.
Sara
February 27th, 2007
at 4:48pm
I’ve had an IBM keyboard at home since 1997. It’s very basic, but the keycaps are large enough for old eyes to see easily and the darn thing is indestructible. It doesn’t have many “advanced” features, but since I’m not a hard-core user at home( spend way too much time with computer-related tasks at work) I don’t care. While I haven’t tried the dishwasher method myself, I’ve heard that is is effective as well.
Lisa Lee
March 1st, 2007
at 5:41am
You’re just a little bit nuts. ;-P
besttravusa
March 4th, 2007
at 4:04pm
Nice site!
Brett Havener
April 6th, 2007
at 3:55pm
I’ve been washing my keyboards for years. I used to just wash them under the sink with soap and water (more water than soap- rinse out the soap thoroughly). Recently, my boss suggested the dishwasher, that seemed to work well, until now. It all depends on the keyboard type. None of my old keyboards ever broke by washing them under the sink. I have a batch of newer logitechs that I’ve tried under the sink(no soap even) and in the dishwasher. Neither of them work now. I think that the manufacturing process must have changed for the newer keyboards. If you have a good old keyboard, go for it. Be sure to let it dry for a week or two though(set it up in a corner to drain). If you have a newer keyboard, you wash it at your own risk. I suspect that if you take the laborious process of dissasembling the thing, then you can wash it under the sink just fine(unless there’s some sort of special contact grease that needs reapplying or something). Remember all electronics are bathed in water at one point in time, the key is to not have electricity flowing through it when it’s wet and that water is not allowed to stay in contact with the electronics for a protracted period(even trapped between pieces). If your house floods and your computer goes under and it wasn’t on, then it’s fine if you immediately(within a few hours) take it all appart(I mean everything except the power supply) and wash it all off then let it air dry. You’ll have to re-apply the processor thermal paste . Just get yourself a new power supply unless you are familiar with the dangers of capacitors. They’re cheap compared to the rest of the components, so just buy a new one, really, don’t take the risk of getting shocked by cracking the supply.
Drew 007
June 8th, 2007
at 3:36am
Have any of you guys tried out Unotrons washable keyboard? Check out http://www.unotron.com - be interesting to hear your thoughts.
Stephan Bauer
March 15th, 2008
at 2:16pm
To be honest I stoped cleaning my keyboards a while ago, as I bought myself some covers that are made out of silicone inorder to prevent dust and crumbs to get under the keys and eventually stop some keys from working properly. I first bought myself some very cheap ones, but it turned out that those were not as durable as I thought. After a month or so the silicone change to a nicotine yellow, although I dont smoke. This challenged me to invest a bit more money into a more durable and better fitting cover. I found myself buying a cover from a company called Sonnet and I am very pleased with their product as they have all the feature I expected.
I am very suprised that people really wash their keyboards in the sink, I did not think people do actually do that. But I am proven wrong.
Have a nice day everyone and Greetings from Austria. (And by that I don’t mean Australia you dickheads)
David McRitchie
March 15th, 2008
at 4:25pm
Rather than using the vacuum cleaner on the rug use the narrow nozzle on the keyboard to vacuum up under the adjacent row. On a laptop the keys are much don’t have much space below them so a grain of cooked grain of rice when it dries out stops whatever key it rolls under from working — worse than hair. I’ve used dental pick and sticky side of a folded adhesive label but vacuum cleaner works best.