Author Topic: Cleaning White Keycaps Trick!  (Read 6471 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline OnTheBrink

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 583
  • Location: New York
  • Work Hard. Play Harder.
    • Wired In Store
Cleaning White Keycaps Trick!
« on: Sat, 07 September 2019, 13:19:31 »
Sorry if someone discovered this before me but I discovered a really good way to clean white PBT keycaps .

The Magic Eraser!

Check out the difference in this photo. I couldn’t get the black scuff and stains off but it came off with ease using the Magic Eraser:


Offline Benitone

  • Posts: 34
Re: Cleaning White Keycaps Trick!
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 07 September 2019, 14:11:29 »
ultrasonic cleaning works too, with ink and graphite

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Cleaning White Keycaps Trick!
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 08 September 2019, 22:04:44 »
That requires a lot of effort.

And you'd have to repeat it for 84+ tiny pieces of plastic.

I've found that soaking in warm water with a couple of denture tabs works well, and I can give them a quick scrub with a toothbrush when taking them out, in case there is any ingrained dirt.
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline _rubik

  • * Esteemed Elder
  • Posts: 1150
  • Location: 192.168.x.x
  • Typing on: Brutal60, Lavenders Linears, GMK Jamon
Re: Cleaning White Keycaps Trick!
« Reply #3 on: Sun, 08 September 2019, 22:31:49 »
That requires a lot of effort.

And you'd have to repeat it for 84+ tiny pieces of plastic.

I've found that soaking in warm water with a couple of denture tabs works well, and I can give them a quick scrub with a toothbrush when taking them out, in case there is any ingrained dirt.

Denture tabs or bust.
ai03 Meridian ¤ Mech 27 ¤ E8.5 ¤ Brutal60 ¤ SSK White Label ¤ HHKB Pro JP ¤ vAEK68 Alps Blues ¤ RF87u

Offline OnTheBrink

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 583
  • Location: New York
  • Work Hard. Play Harder.
    • Wired In Store
Re: Cleaning White Keycaps Trick!
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 09 September 2019, 16:25:57 »
That requires a lot of effort.

And you'd have to repeat it for 84+ tiny pieces of plastic.

I've found that soaking in warm water with a couple of denture tabs works well, and I can give them a quick scrub with a toothbrush when taking them out, in case there is any ingrained dirt.

Unless I'm missing something (not being rude), it seems like your method takes more time tbh. I literally just took each key and swiped with the barely moist magic eraser once or twice and the dirt was gone. Took me like 20-30 mins to do 70 keys.

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Cleaning White Keycaps Trick!
« Reply #5 on: Sun, 15 September 2019, 22:07:07 »
That requires a lot of effort.

And you'd have to repeat it for 84+ tiny pieces of plastic.

I've found that soaking in warm water with a couple of denture tabs works well, and I can give them a quick scrub with a toothbrush when taking them out, in case there is any ingrained dirt.

Unless I'm missing something (not being rude), it seems like your method takes more time tbh. I literally just took each key and swiped with the barely moist magic eraser once or twice and the dirt was gone. Took me like 20-30 mins to do 70 keys.

Do yours end up smelling minty fresh?

Mine do :D

I only scrub the really bad ones, thinking of those two Model M keyboards I got a while back, one was really dirty.

Usually I spread the keycaps out on a sheet of newspaper to dry while I am cleaning the rest of the keyboard.

Doesn't take much time at all.

And, more importantly, not much effort.
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ