geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: Zos on Sat, 03 November 2012, 13:28:14
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So I have a two-week-old keyboard that I've been gaming non-stop with and I find that the WASD keys already feel different than the rest of the relatively unused keyboard. I always washed my hands before use, and now I Lysol wipe it after. I really want to avoid the oily mirror effect one finds on old, unkempt keyboards. I purchased some zinc caps for my WASD to combat the issue, but I'm sure that they will wear out eventually as well.
How do you keep your keys pristine?
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Dont ever touch them.
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For me, I try to remember to wash my hands before using any of my boards but sometimes it's unavoidable. So if and when they become shiny, I'd just replace the keycaps. They're inexpensive enough unless you're talking about some rare set then I just don't use those at all. lol
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I remember reading somewhere someone suggested wearing gloves. Seems a tad extreme.
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I don't. I enjoy making valuable nib vintage doubleshots shiny.
(http://themediaonline.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/shiny-objects.jpeg)
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I remember reading somewhere someone suggested wearing gloves. Seems a tad extreme.
Could always get someone to cut ya fingers off as well, I guess.
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I remember reading somewhere someone suggested wearing gloves. Seems a tad extreme.
Could always get someone to cut ya fingers off as well, I guess.
Or type on a cheap rubber dome whilst staring at your mechanical keyboard, imagining that that's what you're really typing on.
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Dip your fingertips in Elmer's glue and wait for it to dry before typing :D
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Just wear surgical gloves. You still get the feel through them, and you won't wear down the texture on the caps. :)
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Dis?
(http://i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/unplggd/030209_sz_phonefingers.jpg)
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tape your finger tips lol. Sort of defeats the purpose of the feel of keycaps but you'll definitely avoid getting it shiny.
To be quite honest you can just wash your hands before you use your keyboard and that should be more than enough. By the time they do get shiny you'll have more than enough money to replace them :\.
If you're really nitpicky have a spare set of wasd keycaps that you don't give a crap about and switch them on and off. Not like anyone's checking out your keyboard while you play.
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If you're seriously worried about shine though, you could always go POM. They're kind of shiny by default, but you really never have to worry about them loosing that uniform look.
I used a PLU board with POM caps for a while; heavy daily use with decent hygiene the caps started to build up a little "crud" (talking about small smudge build up on a corner edges of some caps) after a year. Being a cheap board, I just took off any dirty caps and scrubbed them with a tooth brush, soap and water for a sec. and they came out looking like new. The only downside was that the legends have faded slightly on heavily used keys (`12345tabQWERTASDFGshiftZXCVBctrl and alt), but that's more due to cheaper printing than anything else.
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Embrace the shine, man. Feel the shine. The shine will not harm you. Be the shine.
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Embrace the shine, man. Feel the shine. The shine will not harm you. Be the shine.
(http://i.imgur.com/QhZzh.gif)
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why do you guys think gloves will not make your keycaps shiny? or tape or silly finger condoms? the friction of merely touching them probably contributes just as much to keycap wear as the sweat and oil on your fingers.
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Exactly. Just embrace the shine. Shine is natural, part of quantum earth-state. Go to shine, and feel her caress.
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why do you guys think gloves will not make your keycaps shiny? or tape or silly finger condoms? the friction of merely touching them probably contributes just as much to keycap wear as the sweat and oil on your fingers.
Lol, finger condoms
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why do you guys think gloves will not make your keycaps shiny? or tape or silly finger condoms? the friction of merely touching them probably contributes just as much to keycap wear as the sweat and oil on your fingers.
It does contribute a little, but human bodily oils are very corrosive and greatly speed the process; it's why practicing good hygiene helps so much.
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Actually it's the oils and acids in your skin that break down the surface and allow it to be worn down easily. I guess you could extend the life of your keycaps by wearing gloves, but that's not saying they will not wear down. Even PBT wears down over time... it just takes a ridiculously long amount of time to happen.
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You avoid it by not looking at them (turn ur head away and avoid them all together).
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You avoid it by not looking at them (turn ur head away and avoid them all together).
You still feel the smooth texture less keycaps...
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Dont worry about the shine worry about wheb you start wearing though the caps (legit happened on my 7G)
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There's actually a good number of solutions to this, ranging from the extremely simple (ignore / embrace it) to the very complex. Given that the OP is a gamer, and presumably playing quite hard if he/she is wearing down the wasd keys rapidly, he/she is probably losing precious nanoseconds per keypress merely by the psychological effect of knowing that his/her keyboard is somehow "less than perfect". Thus, a solution is called for, lest he/she get called a n00b. Here's a few that pop off the top of my head.
1 - Given that the shininess is caused by a combination of chemical action and friction, modification of keypress action can reduce the friction associated with each keypress, and thus alleviate the problem. So try to press the keys with a "rolling" action rather than a "hammer" action, keeping the fingertips placed exactly on the same position on the key. This will require significant training time, this can be reduced by removing (for example) the wasd keys and replacing them with sections of cheese grater - eventually the pain and bleeding will provide enough negative reinforcement to "correct" finger posture and movement.
2 - "Rotate" your keys in order to equalise usage, in a similar way to rotating the tyres on a car.
3 - Diet change to reduce / modify the chemical composition of the sweat exuded by the fingertips.
4 - use textured tape (perhaps skateboard grip tape) on the keycaps, providing an easily replaceable textured surface.
5 - Periodically sandblast your keycaps.
6 - http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/keyboards/industrial/keyboard_cover/index.htm
7 - send your keyboard to me - obviously it's fscked, butI need the parts.
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Keycaps get shiny over time. The world turns, and life keeps on going. If you're wearing gloves or finger condoms you clearly have other issues to deal with, so enjoy what you have and don't worry about it.
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It's part of a keyboard's life.
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Get PBT keycaps. They should take longer to shine and black is an obvious shine color, get a lighter color keycaps so it's harder to see the shine (I.e. beige / light grey).
And if it still bugs you then buy a 37 key set periodically to replace those caps. Eventually you'll be too broke to care lol ~
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Interesting side note.. ive found that filco stock black keys shine really fast... faster than my DAS stock black keys...
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lol @ the finger condoms
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I hate shiny keys. They are just plain gross to the fingertips.
My Model M/Fs go for years without losing their texture, and I have multiple spare sets.
I got an Alps Electric board not long ago with absolutely beautiful doubleshots, but about half a dozen of them are so slick it makes me want to take them off and wash them once an hour. Otherwise, this is the handsomest set of Alps keycaps I have ever seen. Even "Backspace" and "Delete" are like new. The previous owner must not have made mistakes.
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Dont worry about the shine worry about wheb you start wearing though the caps (legit happened on my 7G)
The 7G I murdered for ergo-clears and parts? Or did you have 2?
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Shiny keycaps are the sign of a well-loved keyboard.
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I have used my PBT set for almost a year with no visible signs of wear.
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I was going to say that there are other signs of love, but that didn't seem quite right.
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Not cool when your rarer caps get shine. My CC wasd and arrow set is starting to see some serious shine but they look so pretty on my board . I'm so conflicted.
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get PBT blanks and they'll last longer. You can't really change the acidity of your fingers.
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I can see my reflection when I look directly down at my F key. It helps me make sure my hairs not messed up.
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Stop taunting them.
It's mean.
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But, but, but, I love shiny keys!
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a258/supermanic/Keyboards/IMG_7659.jpg)
now that's taunting
10 points if you can guess who's logo/box is being reflected!
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That's, like ... wow! Smooooth....
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I use a 'gamer kit' (# row and wasd blank keys) AND always wash my hands before using kb.
10 points if you can guess who's logo/box is being reflected!
Griffin?
(https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1793365489/Gat.png)
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I hate shiny keys. They are just plain gross to the fingertips.
I got an Alps Electric board not long ago with absolutely beautiful doubleshots, but about half a dozen of them are so slick it makes me want to take them off and wash them once an hour.
When you get a perfectly smooth round glass out of the cupboard does the smooth glass gross you out?
When you buy a new car, does the smooth perfect paintjob gross you out?
Do you wash your car every day with a brittle brush to rough up the texture?
Do you avoid round smooth ballpoint pens?
What about those perfectly smooth plastic mousepads?
My stereo, and TV are both made of smooth shiny plastic. Isn't yours? Does it gross you out?
My mouse is made of smooth shiny plastic. It came that way. What is your mouse texture like?
Fascinating.
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Griffin?
Nah. Seeing as no one else is playing this game I'll just tell. 'twas a Farnell / element14 sitting on my desk, about 350mm away.
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Get PBT!
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When you get a perfectly smooth round glass out of the cupboard does the smooth glass gross you out?
When you buy a new car, does the smooth perfect paintjob gross you out?
Do you wash your car every day with a brittle brush to rough up the texture?
Do you avoid round smooth ballpoint pens?
What about those perfectly smooth plastic mousepads?
My stereo, and TV are both made of smooth shiny plastic. Isn't yours? Does it gross you out?
My mouse is made of smooth shiny plastic. It came that way. What is your mouse texture like?
Fascinating.
Protip: trolls are more effective when they aren't tldr.
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Not trolling. Its a serious question.
I have met all kinds of ppl with all kinds of weird different phobias. It is interesting, that's all.
I am trying to figure out where the phobia starts and where it ends.
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Phobia huh. Do you know what trolling means?
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Stop trolling hashbaz. He has a very valid point.
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I think most complain about the shine appearing unevenly, but the difference in shiny and "worn in ABS" shiny is that the worn in type of shiny feels oily (the feel returns pretty quickly after washing them as well).
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Even if the keycaps do get shiny, just replace them. Or have a few sets of keycaps lying around and swap them around every now and again to spread the wear out.