If you haven’t ever cleaned your keyboard before, you’d probably be horrified at what you might find living under your keys, especially if you’re guilty of eating food over your keyboard.
So, what’s the best way to clean a keyboard? Here are a few suggestions.
Tips:
- Compressed air is your friend! You can find it just about anywhere, and it works wonders for getting all of the small crumbs and particles, not to mention dust, out of your keyboard. You could also use a vacuum cleaner as an alternative to the compressed air.
- 3M Keyboard cleaner kit (link) – Yes, there are commercial products made just for cleaning your keyboard. 3M isn’t the only option out there either. The 3M kit includes a cleaning solution and a foam tool that’ll help you get in between the keys.
- Cotton Swabs/Rubbing Alcohol – Use a combination of the cotton swabs with a touch of rubbing alcohol to clean each of the keys and surface.
- Screwdriver – Huh? You’ll need this if your keyboard is in need of some extra tender loving care. If your keyboard has been the catch-all for coffee, chips, and whatever else has been consumed over your keyboard, you’ll need a small screwdriver to pop off all the keys. Once the keys are off, use the cotton swabs and a cloth with some dishwashing detergent to get it clean.
It doesn’t take much to get a keyboard dirty. Even if you don’t eat or drink over it, it still gets dirty. Cleaning it really is easy and doesn’t take too much time. Once you’re done, you should be left with a nice clean keyboard!
And just in case you’re one that likes to take the alternative not-so-practical route, try putting it in the dishwasher. BoingBoing has an explanation for how you can clean your computer keyboard in the dishwasher without destroying it. I don’t intend to try this method, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. If you do, let us know how it goes.
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Try at the beginning of your day turning the keyboard upside down and giving it a gentle shake. You’ll be surprised what comes out!
I take my keyboard apart by removing the screws in the back. The top half has all the keys attached to it so I just drop that in the tub with some type of cleaner mixed in. 30 min. later rinse and let dry.
The bottom button side I just shake out or wipe off what is stuck to it.
I read somewhere a couple months ago about how it is possible to clean your keyboard in the dishwasher (leaving the heat cycle off of course) and gave it a try with our 5 year old turbo-media keyboard (It was in dire need, we have 2 young kids and all of us are guilty of eating/snacking at the computer) I was a bit nervous about it, but since the keyboard was old, figured it was worth it to take a shot. It worked great!! Haven’t seen it this clean in years!
Wow, I’m impressed. Good to know! I guess I wouldn’t try it on a newer keyboard, but hey, if it’s an old one, why not?
That really does seem to be one of the more obvious things, and I had never even thought about that!
I wonder how many keyboards are actually like that, because I’ve often pondered doing that before.
I’m still in awe that the computer actually works, so I wonder if it is better or worse to do this with a wireless keyboard?
Looks like you haven’t gotten any takers yet, Al
I’ve noticed, what’s up with that?