Desktop Keyboard Cleaning

[Jorpho]

Do any of you have a recommended means of cleaning a keyboard?

I found a local place that sells this cleaning goop, any I was thinking of giving it a try.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/high-tech- ... ack-101434

I suppose the alternative would be prying the keys off one by one, but I'm not sure where to get the proper tool for that operation, and even then if it can be done without causing damage.

[GeorgeH]

I clean my keyboards with dish soap and warm water, then compressed air and time to dry them.

Since most people use <$20 keyboards and clean them on a timescale measured in years, if a little compressed air and superficial wiping isn't cutting it my typical advice is "buy a new one".

[Ubik]

I once did they remove all keys thing. It was lots of work. Later I have only removed the front side of the keyboard and washed it with water, dish soap and brush. At least the keyboard I have is easy to take apart, just unscrew everything from the bottom, remove couple keys (at the left and right extremes) and unscrew the screws under them. Then the top side with can be just lifted off and all the parts containing electronics are left to the bottom side so the part with keys can safely get wet. When rinsing, it's fun to see how the keys jump up when the water flows underneath them. My point being, at best it can be relatively easy and bit fun too.

[davdigsb]

I once did they remove all keys thing. It was lots of work.

How much time did it take?

[Ubik]

Probably unsurprisingly, removing the keys was pretty fast once I got the idea. Longest time probably went into washing them with a toothbrush (one that hadn't been in my mouth before or after this operation) and putting them back in place. Hint: have a map of the keyboard layout around, I used my camera and its small LCD screen. Letting the keys dry takes time, because water likes get to the backside of the keys and hang there in the corners with the help of surface tension. Luckily very small amounts of water aren't bad.

Anyway, I can't remember how long it exactly took, but because I also hadn't opened the keyboard before, the process definitely took several hours all in all, being in unexplored territory. (Like I said in the earlier post, there might be screws on the frontside, under the keys too.)

[milom]

A friend at work taught me something that really does the trick. I don't think you need any bought cleaning "stuff".

Assuming you're not too afraid/lazy to take the keys off one by one: take all the keys and put them in a 25 bulk cd/dvd box like this,
http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/105615651/Cake_Box_For_Bulk_Packing_of_CD.jpg
along with dishwashing liquid and water. Then proceed to close the bulk and start shaking. Remember to change the water a couple of times so the dishwashing liquid washes off. The friction amongst them and the water will make them like new. Next leave them on a towel to dry for a couple hours.

As for the rest of the keyboard - i use cotton ear buds dipped in alcohol.

Remember to take a "before" picture of the keyboard so you won't forget precisely which key goes where.

[Jorpho]

Assuming you're not too afraid/lazy to take the keys off one by one: take all the keys and put them in a 25 bulk cd/dvd box like this

I'm sure there's nothing magical about the cake box that makes it unusually well-suited for the task.

As I said in the OP, the problem is that I can't seem to find the keycap-pulling tool. This is the one I remember seeing before, but it's a whopping $15 on eBay at the moment:

140.jpg (2.09 KiB) Viewed 2456 times

I also see this one, which probably isn't as good and is still kind of overpriced at $3.29, really.

140 (1).jpg (6 KiB) Viewed 2456 times

Has anyone seen either of these for cheap? I wouldn't want to use a flathead screwdriver for fear of snapping something.

[EvanED]

Has anyone seen either of these for cheap? I wouldn't want to use a flathead screwdriver for fear of snapping something.

So I know that it can be a bit scary, but I've had no problems doing the screwdriver thing with either my MS Natural 4000s or some cheapass Asus keyboard. No guarantee it'll work of course, but I'd say it almost certainly would.

[Sero]

http://bit.ly/y5io37

First two items seem to be the same as the first one. Not cheaper than $3.29, but a lot less than $15.

[b.i.o]

The Das Keyboard website sells one: http://store.daskeyboard.com/Key-Cap-Pu ... B004JYJHIO

$5, so not really any cheaper, though. All of their replacement key sets seem to come with one also.

[Jorpho]

In the end I just bit the bullet and pried all the keys off with a paperclip. Managed to do the whole job without breaking anything, which was my primary concern. At least, there doesn't seem to be any damage. The responsiveness of the keys seems a bit different than it once was, but maybe that's just my imagination.

Trying to clean out the "tray" underneath was kind of difficult – even after going through a large number of Q-tips, it still wasn't completely clean. It was definitely a lot cleaner than it was before, at least. I reckon doing a full take-apart is the way to go if one wants to be thorough.

[nortski]

Just for a clean every now and then, just to keep on top of things, I use a small make-up brush to clean in between the keys.

[Kromix]

i just pop out the keys, open the keyboard, separate all components, plastic, pcb, rubber membrane, and put it all in the dish washer, no soap, just hot water, let it dry thoroughly before reassembling, make sure PCB is dried!!!