Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!

[slueth]

Soaking my Model F keys now, toothbrush has failed me.  We shall see the the results, unfortunately I didn't get before shots.

[NeeGo]

This method works great; it left few blue stains at the edges of the key caps but I was able to easily wipe them away with my finger. Thanks sixty!

[slueth]

Wow came out beautifully Yay! No more nasty feeling keys.  Killed 99.9%(eh) of the germs and smells minty ^_^
Not the best pic but as you can see they are clean!

[Zet]

this looks like something I will totally do when my keycaps key dirtey!

[Slarg]

I fear it would wear off the lettering on my M13. Anyone tried it ? Otherwise great !
My previous method was hot water and a tad of laundry washing powder, soak and rub with fingers.

[Findecanor]

Has anybody tried using denture cleaning tabs for cleaning a vintage Cherry corp. key with a transparent window for a LED?

I am afraid that something in the tabs could hurt the clear plastic, scratching it or making it cloudy, and would like to hear from someone else before I try it.

[.di]

hi guys.. is it safe to clean keycaps with pad printing with this method..?

[Arcanius]

It should be. Most pad printed keys have a coating as to not rub off. Some don't, but on those, you can scratch the letters off with your fingernail.

[Findecanor]

Denture cleaning tabs works well for dirty Cherry MY switches, apparently. (not MX, MY!) However, the stabilizer bars turned black.

I am still wondering about windowed Cherry keys. (Cherry corp. original vintage double-shots). Will I be the first to try it?

[Konrad]

It seems counterintuitive, but clear plastics can often be made clearer with careful use of extremely fine abrasives. Like 2000-grit sorta stuff ... it's how they polish up the plastics on car headlights. Ridiculously fine abrasives are used to polish lenses and gemstones, even when they're made from plastics.

Toothpaste at the high end of the RDA scale is an excellent abrasive.  You can even use it to "sand out" scratches on audio CDs (not always effective on data CDs or DVDs).  But don't blame me if you haze up the surface, lol.

[HotKillerZzz]

How many should i use?

[SSIPAK]

How many should i use?

2 or 3 should be fine

[HotKillerZzz]

How many should i use?

2 or 3 should be fine

That is for approximately how many caps? Im gonna do a spring clean for everything

[rowdy]

How many should i use?

2 or 3 should be fine

That is for approximately how many caps? Im gonna do a spring clean for everything

I use 3 for a full (~108) keycap set.  Warm water.  Dissolve the tablets, the water turns blue.  Add keycaps and swish around slightly.  Leave to stand until the water i no longer blue (it should turn clear or brown, depending on how dirty the keycaps are).  I swich around a little again.  Then drain the water and spread the keycaps out to dry on an absorbent surface, such as newspaper.  I personally prefer to drain the used denture tab mixture after cleaning, refill with clean cold water and swish around a bit again, just to be sure.

[SpecTP]

I use Dawn dishwashing liquid to clean my IBM keycaps.. works great.

[dorkvader]

I use Dawn dishwashing liquid to clean my IBM keycaps.. works great.

i'm not sure if it was Dawn, but I've had issues with dish soap leaving a residue.

[SpecTP]

I use Dawn dishwashing liquid to clean my IBM keycaps.. works great.

i'm not sure if it was Dawn, but I've had issues with dish soap leaving a residue.

Not with Dawn.  There's no residue.  I use it to wash my car when I want to remove ALL the polish and wax.  You have to take care and restore a new set of polish and wax afterwards.  It works great on all the crud buildup on my keys.  I let it soak in the sink overnight and the keys are spotless the next day.

[davkol]

A disappointment so far. I've run through three rounds and either my keycaps are too dirty, or I'm doing something wrong.

Round zero. One half of a dirty Alps doubleshot set, hot water and some cheap denture-cleaning powder (Alpa, €1.5 for 150 g). Expected it to be only slower (over night). After 8 hours, I had to remove dirt by hand. Okay, check ingredients first next time.

Round one. The other half of that doubleshot set, hot water and two blend-a-dent tabs (€6.5 for 60 tabs). Water went blue and foamy for about 30 minutes, as described in the OP. Still had to remove dirt residue manually. Maybe too much water or too few tabs.

Round two. A full PBT dyesub set, just barely enough warm water and six blend-a-dent tabs. Reaction as expected. After 30 minutes, I still had to remove dirt residue by hand.

[rowdy]

It might depend on how much dirt was on the keycaps.  Mine were not that dirty, but sufficiently dirty that the water turned brown afterwards.

Some pictures of mine here.  Doesn't look like I took or kept the pictures of the brown water.

[SSIPAK]

A disappointment so far. I've run through three rounds and either my keycaps are too dirty, or I'm doing something wrong.

Round zero. One half of a dirty Alps doubleshot set, hot water and some cheap denture-cleaning powder (Alpa, €1.5 for 150 g). Expected it to be only slower (over night). After 8 hours, I had to remove dirt by hand. Okay, check ingredients first next time.

Round one. The other half of that doubleshot set, hot water and two blend-a-dent tabs (€6.5 for 60 tabs). Water went blue and foamy for about 30 minutes, as described in the OP. Still had to remove dirt residue manually. Maybe too much water or too few tabs.

Round two. A full PBT dyesub set, just barely enough warm water and six blend-a-dent tabs. Reaction as expected. After 30 minutes, I still had to remove dirt residue by hand.

if its too dirty you might want to use a toothbrush with dish washing soap and scrub them gently before you soak them with denture tab water.

[davkol]

Thanks for the link, rowdy. I've tried another round, this time with great results. I think it's helped that I've used a relatively small pot and only barely 1 liter of hot water, although there were only four tabs.

if its too dirty you might want to use a toothbrush with dish washing soap and scrub them gently before you soak them with denture tab water.

Nah, that defeats the whole point of using denture tabs.

[ShawnMeg]

Dishwashing soap or handsoap has worked well for me.  Maybe I'll try to denture cleaning tabs one day.

[TopreFan333]

This denture tab thing just saved me so much work. My HHKB caps were getting a little dingey after maybe 9 months of use, and now they look totally new -- and I didn't scrub a thing.

[rowdy]

This denture tab thing just saved me so much work. My HHKB caps were getting a little dingey after maybe 9 months of use, and now they look totally new -- and I didn't scrub a thing.

And they smell minty fresh

[E3E]

Definitely going to do this before I dye my IBM 5140 caps. I've cleaned them already, but having since typed on them, I think another cleaning would be a good idea before dunking them in the dye.

[heedpantsnow]

Also put them in a mesh bag (like what fruit or potatoes come in) and throw them in the top rack of your dishwasher. Almost zero work and gets them very very clean.

[fohat.digs]

but having since typed on them, I think another cleaning would be a good idea before dunking them in the dye.

They must be absolutely clean before going into the dye bath. Even traces of skin oil will ruin your job.

[E3E]

but having since typed on them, I think another cleaning would be a good idea before dunking them in the dye.

They must be absolutely clean before going into the dye bath. Even traces of skin oil will ruin your job.

Yeah, I've botched paintjobs thanks to poor surface prep and rushing. Thanks for the heads up though.

Also put them in a mesh bag (like what fruit or potatoes come in) and throw them in the top rack of your dishwasher. Almost zero work and gets them very very clean.

This sounds like a fantastic tip, man. I'll do that!

[jcoffin1981]

I have purchased a dust cover for my keyboards which I use when not in use.  I also clean the case and keycaps 1-2 times weekly with a very mild glass cleaner (without amonia).  It's easier to prevent the board from becoming dirty than to clean it after the fact.  Eating at the keyboard is a no-no, but this is something that even I do.