Author Topic: Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!  (Read 63163 times)

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Offline sixty

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 07:18:47 »

"Let me see that keyboard, dear."

This came to my mind when I was reading a random unrelated German article that mentioned how some kid got sick by chewing on nasty lego bricks.. anyway the end of the article had some tips for parents on how to clean Lego bricks, so their kids don't die from infections (and rather choke on them instead, I guess). One of the tricks was to put them in a huge bowl with some dental cleaning tablets.

I figured that Lego bricks and keycaps are close enough.. so I gave it a try today with some boards.



I used the "Kukident Active Plus" brand - which should be easily available in Europe. They came in at 2,40 Euros for 33 Tabs. Pretty good deal. If you already lost all your teeth and are using dentures anyway then you are probably already set.

Here is what I did:


1) Get some big bowl, put in at least 4 or 5 tabs, depending on how many keycaps you plan to clean.


2) Add the keycaps, make sure they are evenly distributed around the tabs.
Now here is the cool part - I also added in all stabilizers as well, because the tablet box claims: "Our corrosion preventive special formula protects your dentures metal parts from rust and corrosion." - What more could we ask for?

Note: I had to add another tab here since the keycaps turned out to be more than expected (damn terminal boards!)


3) Add hot water. A lot of bubbles will start rising and the water will probably change colour.


4) Let it rest for a while and let those tabs do their magic. After about 20 minutes the foam started to disappear and the keycaps should be good to remove.

5) Time to get the keycaps dry again. This is up to you. I usually use a pasta sieve and give them a last clean with cold water. After that I use a hair-dryer to dry them.
 
So far I am very happy with the results and it even cleaned some keycaps which seemed really filthy with worn in grime.

Example:

Offline keyb_gr

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 07:41:41 »
That's some great idea there. :thumb:

An academic research paper on this would certainly be entitled "A novel method for cleaning keyboard keycaps". :D

It seems like these denture cleaning tabs are quite useful for cleaning all kinds of things, as a quick search showed. And apparently it's not exactly a new discovery either. Interesting chemistry cocktail... some acids here, some peroxide there, and a major ingredient sems to be sodium bicarbonate. That should make for some nice chemical reactions.
« Last Edit: Wed, 19 August 2009, 07:55:19 by keyb_gr »
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Offline timw4mail

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 07:48:26 »
My only concern with such a method is if a denture cleaning tab is abrasive.
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Offline itlnstln

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 08:08:42 »
Quote from: timw4mail;110546
My only concern with such a method is if a denture cleaning tab is abrasive.

They are gently abrasive (due to the effervescence, not the tab itself, per se), but nothing that would damage a key.  It's probably a lot less damaging than putting them in the dishwasher.


Offline keyb_gr

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 08:19:26 »
Quote from: itlnstln;110549
It's probably a lot less damaging than putting them in the dishwasher.

Or cleaning them by hand.
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Offline o2dazone

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« Reply #5 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 08:56:01 »
Yeah, cleaning them by hand would require rubbing, and we all know that can really hurt the natural texture of a keycap (especially if you're rubbing your Wang)

Can't wait to try this out, probably the best method I've seen so far ^^ (dishwashers scare me)

Offline rdjack21

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« Reply #6 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 09:03:19 »
I agree with o2dazone I can't wait to try that out. I have some keys that need to be cleaned but have been too lazy to hand wash them lately. So I will head down to the local drug store and get some denture cleaning tabs myself and try this out.
Keyboards
Topre Capacitive: Realforce 87U, Realforce 86U, HHKB Pro 2, Topre MD01B0, Topre HE0100, Sun Short Type, OEM NEO CS (x2), NISSHO Electronics KB106DE
Buckling Spring: IBM Model M Space Saver (1291472), Unicomp Customizer x 2
Cherry Brown: Filco FKBN87M/EB, Compaq MX11800
Black Alps: ABS M1
Not so great boards Rare Spring over dome OKI, Sun rack keyboard

Trackballs - Trackman Wheel (3), Trackman marble (2)
Keyboards I still want to get - Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro 2 the White version, Realforce 23U number pad in black and maybe white, μTRON ergo board with Topre switches.
Previously owned - [size=0]SiiG MiniTouch (White Alps), Scorpius M10 (Blue Cherry), IBM Model M13[/size]

Offline BucklingSpring

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 09:23:28 »
I always use the dishwasher for cleaning my keycaps.

Works extreemly well.

I place the keycaps in a cleaning bag to prevent them from wondering around.



They come out squeaky clean and never damaged any.
« Last Edit: Wed, 19 August 2009, 09:27:45 by BucklingSpring »
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Offline o2dazone

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« Reply #8 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 09:54:31 »
I could see the dishwasher being an alternative if you're getting "Hacker style" keyboards from ScarryGarcia. For the daily board chow and finger muck, I could see myself turning to less abrasive cleaning methods

Offline BucklingSpring

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« Reply #9 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 10:36:53 »
Quote from: ripster;110582
I blame the Germans.


It's a good rule of thumb. :-)

My dishwasher is a noname piece of sh*t and the light wash is not very hot. I can appreciate how a good Bosch can be damaging just by doing well at what it has been designed for.
In memory of smallfry 1996-2013
Boards I own, click ->
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Ducky x2 (9008G2 Pro PBT/MX Green and Mini MX Red), Matias x2 (QP and Mini QP Dampened ALPS), Topre RealForce x4 (87U 55g/Digilog case, 103U-UW & 104UG High-Profile x2), Filco Majestouch x2 (TKL MX Blue & V2 AI 104 MX Blue), IBM-M x2 (BS & RD), Unicomp-M x5 (BS black on black x2, BS Ivory x2, QT Ultra-Classic), Deck x4 (Legend MX Black & MX Clear, Hassium & Francium w/ MX Brown), DAS III (MX Blue), KBT Pure Pro 60% (MX Red), NMB-RT8256CW+ x2 (black space invader), XArmor U9BL-S (MX Brown) given for free to someone I hate, CM X2 (Trigger/MX Green + Storm TKL/NovaTouch), TVS GOLD (MX Blue) and a many many more (NMB, DELL, MS, ATT, KeyTronic, Etc...)

Offline watduzhkstand4

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 10:50:04 »
bling bling!
KEYBOARDS
Cherry Blue *Filco Tenkeyless w/ blank keys* w/ red ESC key thanks to Megarat
Cherry Red Noppoo Choc Mini
IBM Model M 1391401 12/15/88
Siig Minitouch w/ White Alps


SOLD
HHKB Pro 2 white w/ blank keys red ESC key and blank WASD keys
HHKB L-2
Cherry Brown Compaq mx11800
Dell AT101W
Cherry Red Leopold 104-key Otaku FC500RR/ABN

Offline cmr

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 14:40:13 »
lol the sparkle

Offline Rajagra

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 19 August 2009, 14:46:06 »
While you're soaking the caps, don't forget to floss between the switches.:brushteeth:

Offline sixty

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #13 on: Fri, 28 August 2009, 04:50:00 »
I finished cleaning all three of the really nasty eBay Cherry boards today.

I figured I would share some more results of the denture tabs:



Offline keyb_gr

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #14 on: Fri, 28 August 2009, 06:40:08 »
That turned out pretty well I'd say. Any remaining traces of dirt? How long did it take per board?
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Offline sixty

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #15 on: Fri, 28 August 2009, 07:30:42 »
There were no traces of dirt left after I took them out of the denture cleaning liquid and gave them another cold shower in a pasta sieve. However, one key had something written on it with a finemarker - "123" on a "7" key for some reason. This remained in place. I could easily rub it off with alcohol though.. odd.

If you want to speed things up you can probably finish an entire board in an hour. I usually let them soak for at least an hour though.

Offline huha

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« Reply #16 on: Fri, 28 August 2009, 11:40:32 »
Any mechanical interaction required? Cleaning keys with a sponge is a really cumbersome and time-consuming task. 2.40 for several keyboards sounds like a good deal, I might want to try this.

-huha
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Offline sixty

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #17 on: Fri, 28 August 2009, 12:24:29 »
Quote from: huha;112641
Any mechanical interaction required? Cleaning keys with a sponge is a really cumbersome and time-consuming task. 2.40 for several keyboards sounds like a good deal, I might want to try this.

-huha


Nope, no scrubbing or rubbing of the caps. Just make sure to put the tabs into the bowl before adding the keycaps and then let them in there for a while. If you still find them dirty (very unlikely - has not happened yet), just repeat the same thing again. Usually 4-5 tabs seem to be enough for a full set of keys.

Offline banyanleaf

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« Reply #18 on: Fri, 28 August 2009, 13:11:00 »
Here is my cleaning method and it has always given me the best (and not much work) result: 1) Take the caps down and soak in warm water overnight; 2) Use ultrasonic cleaner, use a few drops of dishwasher liquid and a cap of ammonia; clean for 2-4 minutes.

Air dry and bingo!

One comment on dishwasher method: careful with temperature. My dishwasher's default setting has pretty high water temperature and it might not be good for some caps.

Offline o2dazone

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« Reply #19 on: Sun, 06 September 2009, 20:32:10 »
sorry to bump this, but I just used this method on my hhkb keys. The white ones were starting to show gunk a little more than the black keys were. I left them in for about two hours, used a pasta sieve to strain the water, ran some cold tap water over them, and then let them sit out in the shade outdoors (no wind, hot vegas air). 10 minutes later they were ready for assembly :) Perfect technique, sixty

Offline microsoft windows

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« Reply #20 on: Mon, 07 September 2009, 06:27:30 »
I ought to get myself some denture cleaner. My keyboards are filthy!
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Offline rdh

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« Reply #21 on: Mon, 07 September 2009, 10:53:08 »
I haven't tried the denture cleaner, but Simple Green worked well for the moderately dirty keys on my SGI board.  

A number of people have mentioned using it, but I haven't seen details, so:
I put the keys in a bowl, dumped 1 part Simple Green, 8 parts hot tap water, and stirred it a little just to mix in the cleaner.
After letting it soak for 10 minutes, I poured out the fluid, rinsed the keys, and spread them out to dry.

The instructions on the bottle say you can dilute at 1:10, but the 1:8 ratio was convenient, since our kitchen stuff is mostly not in sane (metric) sizes: I used a one-quart glass bowl, 16 fl. oz. water (half a quart), and 2 fl. oz. cleaner.
The 10 minute period was chosen more or less arbitrarily.

It worked nicely, all the scunge was gone without any scrubbing.
Next up, a bigger challenge: my roommate's old (and never-cleaned) Northgate.
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Offline Hak Foo

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #22 on: Thu, 10 September 2009, 01:26:05 »
I throw the caps in a bag with a wad of Oxi Clean, fill with water, shake.
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Offline itlnstln

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« Reply #23 on: Thu, 10 September 2009, 09:45:49 »
I tried using Oxi Clean in my steam cleaner.  It didn't work as well as I had hoped.  Just thought I would share.


Offline itlnstln

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« Reply #24 on: Mon, 02 November 2009, 13:51:14 »
Quote from: kishy;129954
4 Life brand... condoms

Exactly.


Offline itlnstln

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« Reply #25 on: Mon, 02 November 2009, 15:42:16 »
Looks good.


Offline MFGorilla

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #26 on: Mon, 02 November 2009, 15:43:22 »
I wish I had found this thread before I rehabbed the old Model M I found at work.
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Offline itlnstln

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #27 on: Mon, 02 November 2009, 15:57:48 »
Quote from: kishy;129965
this looks like an easy way to do them in bulk.

This does look a lot easier than the method I would use of soaking everything in a bucket of Simple Green.  With that method, you would still have to do some scrubbing to clean the parts.  I appears with this that you just soak it for awhile, and the effervescence and abrasives in the tablets do the heavy lifting.


Offline itlnstln

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« Reply #28 on: Mon, 02 November 2009, 16:24:03 »
I'm kinda interested in seeing if either of my Ms have broken rivets.  I doubt it, but you never know.


Offline sixty

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #29 on: Mon, 02 November 2009, 17:34:12 »
Quote from: ripster;129980
I may try cleaning the doubleshots I bought from Kishy with a combined solution of:

1 part Simple Green
1 Denture Tablet
1 TB Oxyclean


I sent your doubleshot keys today too, you should get them within ~10 days I suppose, however they are already clean anyway.

PS: This method is also already very popular in the translated Korean version and got featured on their front page recently.

Glad everyone likes the method.

Offline ocdonkb

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« Reply #30 on: Mon, 02 November 2009, 22:27:01 »
This thread is very inspiring. Just ebay'd a $18 Dell AT101W, I'll try this cleaning method when it gets here.
| Filco Brown 87 key | Realforce 87U | Unicomp Spacesaver | IBM Model M | Cherry ML4100 | Dell AT101W | Focus 2001 |

Offline Rajagra

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« Reply #31 on: Tue, 03 November 2009, 07:05:12 »
Quote from: ripster;129987
But on that other site that must not be mentioned I think they've one upped us all.


I hope they used that carefully. I've heard stories of people putting their hands in ultrasonic cleaners like that and having their finger joints damaged. No point having clean keycaps if you can't type any more.

Offline keyb_gr

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #32 on: Tue, 03 November 2009, 07:34:19 »
Quote from: kishy;129961
The numpad "+" still has a mark on it because that's actually been written on with a marker. It looks like it smudged though, so prolonged exposure may loosen it up even more.

Try some alcohol on that, think that worked for sixty...
Quote from: ocdonkb;130023
This thread is very inspiring. Just ebay'd a $18 Dell AT101W, I'll try this cleaning method when it gets here.

Well, as long as you have a good method of removing the keycaps (which is known to be a sort of a pain and even potentially dangerous to the switches)...
Quote from: Rajagra;130069
I hope they used that carefully. I've heard stories of people putting their hands in ultrasonic cleaners like that and having their finger joints damaged. No point having clean keycaps if you can't type any more.

Then again, I don't think you're supposed to put your hands inside an ultrasonic cleaner while it's operating.
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Offline ironcoder

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« Reply #33 on: Tue, 03 November 2009, 09:18:18 »
Quote from: o2dazone;110561
(dishwashers scare me)


Remind me not to eat at your house, bud :madgrin:
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Offline ocdonkb

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« Reply #34 on: Tue, 03 November 2009, 14:13:24 »
Quote from: keyb_gr;130073
Well, as long as you have a good method of removing the keycaps (which is known to be a sort of a pain and even potentially dangerous to the switches)


wow thanks for the heads-up! Just read up on this topic on the alps switch wiki. Looks like a keypuller would really help, and elitekeyboards, or Hooleon sell these for cheap.
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Offline o2dazone

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« Reply #35 on: Tue, 03 November 2009, 21:02:55 »
Quote from: ironcoder;130101
Remind me not to eat at your house, bud :madgrin:


Hey I do a badass job handwashing, alright 8)

Offline ironcoder

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« Reply #36 on: Wed, 04 November 2009, 07:42:59 »
Fair enough!
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Offline ocdonkb

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« Reply #37 on: Fri, 13 November 2009, 15:49:05 »
so I finally got my Dell AT101W today, already took it apart. The keycaps I'll just clean using the denture tablets. But what about the board?



Can I just put this under the kitchen faucet and clean it with a brush? My concern is mainly the electronics, will they survive the water?

Please advice what I should do.

I'm not planning on actually taking apart the individual switches.
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Offline itlnstln

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« Reply #38 on: Fri, 13 November 2009, 15:52:43 »
I would dust it with a feather duster, use a Lysol wipe or spray some Windex on a paper towel and wipe it off.  I wouldn't put the body under water by any means.  You could wash the case under water or in the dishwasher, though.


Offline sixty

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« Reply #39 on: Fri, 13 November 2009, 16:00:16 »
I usually use a combination of air compressor + toothbrush on actual boards/switches. Be careful to not rub the switches too hard though, especially ALPS like to fall of easy because they only have 2 solder points.

Regarding the guide: I had the first failure with the method the other day, I guess these keycaps are beyond hope. Gave them 3 cleanings and one with another cleaner. They are still damn dirty.

Offline itlnstln

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« Reply #40 on: Fri, 13 November 2009, 16:04:54 »
Did you use the toothbrush at all on the keycaps you soaked in the denture cleaner?  When I had braces as a kid, I used denture cleaner on my retainer after the braces came out.  I was instructed to still brush my retainer as the denture cleaner would not necessarily be able to take out the "big chunks."  Just a thought.


Offline ocdonkb

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« Reply #41 on: Fri, 13 November 2009, 16:04:56 »
Quote from: itlnstln;132246
I would dust it with a feather duster, use a Lysol wipe or spray some Windex on a paper towel and wipe it off.  I wouldn't put the body under water by any means.  You could wash the case under water or in the dishwasher, though.


Ok, thanks.

The switches are mounted on this metal plate. And looks like there's not an easy way to detach the circuit board, so that I can have the switches+mounting plate by themselves.

If this was possible, then I assume it's okay to put the switches+mounting plate under the faucet, no? Since there are no electronic parts here.
| Filco Brown 87 key | Realforce 87U | Unicomp Spacesaver | IBM Model M | Cherry ML4100 | Dell AT101W | Focus 2001 |

Offline itlnstln

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« Reply #42 on: Fri, 13 November 2009, 16:07:26 »
Other than desoldering the switches, you can't take them off the PCB.  Even then, you wouldn't want to put them in water, because there is metal inside the switch, and you probably wouldn't be able to let them dry out properly.  If that were the case, the switch could malfunction and/or some of the internals would rust.


Offline keyb_gr

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Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #43 on: Sat, 14 November 2009, 05:32:21 »
Quote from: sixty;132250
Regarding the guide: I had the first failure with the method the other day, I guess these keycaps are beyond hope. Gave them 3 cleanings and one with another cleaner. They are still damn dirty.

What kind of board / plastic? With some of the softer "standard" materials (ABS/PS?) the dirt seems to "dig into" the surface at times and can be almost impossible to remove completely.

At least if the dirt doesn't come off with fairly intensive cleaning, chances are it won't in actual use.
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Offline sixty

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« Reply #44 on: Sat, 14 November 2009, 08:23:57 »
Quote from: keyb_gr;132344
What kind of board / plastic? With some of the softer "standard" materials (ABS/PS?) the dirt seems to "dig into" the surface at times and can be almost impossible to remove completely.

At least if the dirt doesn't come off with fairly intensive cleaning, chances are it won't in actual use.


It was a newer lasered Cherry G81-8300 or something, the caps look as if the board has been stored in a pond of mud, face down. They are the new thinner type of Cherry keycaps and should be PBT. I believe these are actually made in China.

Offline British

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« Reply #45 on: Sat, 07 August 2010, 11:57:00 »
Quote from: sixty;110538
I used the "Kukident Active Plus" brand - which should be easily available in Europe. They came in at 2,40 Euros for 33 Tabs.

Found those on Amazon.de, but they don't seem to ship anywhere outside Germany...
Any idea where else to find those ?

Offline Mental Hobbit

  • Posts: 461
Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #46 on: Sat, 07 August 2010, 12:38:54 »
Kukident is just a German brand of Reckitt Benckiser. Whatever is common in France will most likely work just as well.
Typing on blues.

Offline British

  • Posts: 292
Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #47 on: Sat, 07 August 2010, 12:57:18 »
Sure, but being a bit lazy, I prefer to know working products rather that having to test them :wink:

Offline WhiteRice

  • Posts: 850
Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #48 on: Sat, 07 August 2010, 15:13:41 »
Quote from: bucklingspring;110571
i always use the dishwasher for cleaning my keycaps.

Works extreemly well.

I place the keycaps in a cleaning bag to prevent them from wondering around.

Show Image


they come out squeaky clean and never damaged any.


you type on bras!?

Offline Konrad

  • Posts: 348
Cleaning keycaps with... denture cleaning tabs!
« Reply #49 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 18:57:56 »
This seemed like about the right place to mention this linky about de-yellowing old cases.  Shown is a Commodore Vic 20 (basically just a keyboard without much computer in it anyways), though it could be applied to any yellowed old plastic tech.
 
I've used this formula myself just for the hell of it (cleaned up some "vintage" Nintendo consoles prior to selling on eBay) and it worked perfectly.  No damage to the plastics and they ended up looking much better than the photos in the link.
 
Perhaps a good compliment or alternative to the denture stuff.