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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Hubbert on Mon, 13 September 2010, 15:58:54
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I see that Simple Green is highly respected for cleaning cases. Can I just put the entire case, or will it take off the logo or the label over the LED's?
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If you're soaking just the outside plastic case you won't have to worry. Those IBM keyboards have withstood far worse abuse.
As a matter of fact, I remember at work where I used to take off all the keys on the old Apple keyboards and soak them in Simple Green. It didn't hurt them one bit.
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Thanks for the replies. I got good results on the bottom with isopropyl alcohol and paper towels. I do think isopropyl leeches some stuff out of the plastics (it left a white residue on my hands, and leaves a very pronounced white residue on silver colored plastic).
Mostly I just heard so many good comments on Simple Green that I thought I should give it a try. The case is actually fairly clean, too, I mostly wanted to remove body oils.
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Thanks for the replies. I got good results on the bottom with isopropyl alcohol and paper towels. I do think isopropyl leeches some stuff out of the plastics (it left a white residue on my hands, and leaves a very pronounced white residue on silver colored plastic).
Mostly I just heard so many good comments on Simple Green that I thought I should give it a try. The case is actually fairly clean, too, I mostly wanted to remove body oils.
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I just use some dishwashing liquid detergent and a Vileda sponge (http://www.schott.com/hometech/english/products/ceran/dailyuse/vileda_sponge.html) to clean the top cover. I wash the foam off with water. To clean the bottom cover I use isopropyl alcohol or any glass-cleaning solution.
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I have seen *undiluted* Simple Green remove finishes from various other kinds of things. It's pretty strong stuff. If you're going to use it, don't use it full strength.
I've used isopropyl alchol and it seemed to work fine.
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I know that my hands were white after I cleaned the bottom half of the case, and the Wikipedia on isopropyl alcohol says that it removes the plasticizers on vinyl records, so I know that isopropyl is strong: I've never used Simple Green (and read some reports that it also removes plasticizers to a degree).
I've almost decided to use denture tablets for the top half of the case since they did a good job on the keys. I'll try to soak up to just below the labels. The case is relatively new (1996) and not that dirty; it's just a psychological thing that I want to get rid of the previous user's body oils and lotions and such. I'll consider spot-treating with isopropyl, though perhaps I'll dilute it (most varieties are 70%, but there's a Meijer store brand variety that is 99%).