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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: zootylicious on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:33:20

Title: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: zootylicious on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:33:20
Hi! I wondered what the best way to clean used keyboards was.

Should I take off the keycaps and put them in water with a little bleach in? Then could I just vacuum out all of the hair and dust from inside the keyboard?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: SpAmRaY on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:35:06
http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=65
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: tp4tissue on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:49:23
Quote from: zootylicious on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:33:20
Hi! I wondered what the best way to clean used keyboards was.

Should I take off the keycaps and put them in water with a little bleach in? Then could I just vacuum out all of the hair and dust from inside the keyboard?

Thanks!

no can't be done.. problem is OIL.. the oil from your skin and dead skin cells are on the base board.

You have to get in there with some sort of thin cotton tool and a bit of alcohol..

Otherwise most of the dust won't come off.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: zootylicious on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:55:11
Quote from: tp4tissue on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:49:23
Quote from: zootylicious on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:33:20
Hi! I wondered what the best way to clean used keyboards was.

Should I take off the keycaps and put them in water with a little bleach in? Then could I just vacuum out all of the hair and dust from inside the keyboard?

Thanks!

no can't be done.. problem is OIL.. the oil from your skin and dead skin cells are on the base board.

You have to get in there with some sort of thin cotton tool and a bit of alcohol..

Otherwise most of the dust won't come off.

Could I just dip a q tip into some rubbing alcohol?
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: tp4tissue on Fri, 13 December 2013, 16:17:20
Quote from: zootylicious on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:55:11
Quote from: tp4tissue on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:49:23
Quote from: zootylicious on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:33:20
Hi! I wondered what the best way to clean used keyboards was.

Should I take off the keycaps and put them in water with a little bleach in? Then could I just vacuum out all of the hair and dust from inside the keyboard?

Thanks!

no can't be done.. problem is OIL.. the oil from your skin and dead skin cells are on the base board.

You have to get in there with some sort of thin cotton tool and a bit of alcohol..

Otherwise most of the dust won't come off.

Could I just dip a q tip into some rubbing alcohol?

yea.. but don't dip the whole tip in. just half for a second.. because if you do the whole thing.. it will come out too wet..

and that is bad.. because they usually do NOT use stainless steel for the plates.

even 90% isotropy is 10% water.. and the water is bad if it gets into the tiny grooves by capillary effect and do not evaporate right away causing your board to rust..
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: tuxsavvy on Sat, 14 December 2013, 09:05:37
Quote from: zootylicious on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:33:20
Hi! I wondered what the best way to clean used keyboards was.

Should I take off the keycaps and put them in water with a little bleach in? Then could I just vacuum out all of the hair and dust from inside the keyboard?

Thanks!

I personally used metholated spirits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol) when I cleaned both my Northgate Omnikey 101 as well as APC Clicker F-21. I do not know if it is the best way to clean it but it seems I was able to rub off most of the gunk stuck on the keyboard. The results were much better on Northgate Omnikey 101 than on my APC Clicker F-21.

Here are my before and after shots of APC Clicker F-21. I do not have before and after shots of Northgate Omnikey 101:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AcuMvfW1kMU/UpwzwLcuavI/AAAAAAAAALU/mvfbhyDdQNw/s1600/20131202_022.jpg)

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NGzPVoSQMjw/Upwz0AgGfZI/AAAAAAAAALk/_Y_7GEUh7iI/s1600/20131202_024.jpg)

The keycap was missing on the "!/1" key. That was deliberate as I took another photo of the switch close up. Here is the after shots:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7TGcSoqbEdE/Upw0EoBaBrI/AAAAAAAAAMs/W_6FDUSVibM/s1600/20131202_037.jpg)

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rB8mWp6RaCw/Upw0ExIJ0mI/AAAAAAAAAMw/CGg_QjtJo8c/s1600/20131202_038.jpg)

All I used was:
- 1 litre bottle of metholated spirits.
- A random rag.
- An old toothbrush.
- Screwdriver (to undo the screws off.
- A flat head to deal with some of the stabilisers. It was a really small flathead fyi, came from some precision screwdriver set.

The rag was used along with metholated spirits most of the time with an old toothbrush for slightly harder stains. I cleaned each and every keycap by hand followed by disassembly of the keyboard to clean the case. For not being familiar with cleaning let alone on a keyboard it took me a few hours from start to finish.

End result was the fact that the keyboard was still somewhat prone to getting dirty but right now it is nowhere near as dirty as it was before. Again I am not recommending anything in particular but that was how I cleaned my old keyboard.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: domoaligato on Sat, 14 December 2013, 09:13:14
Denture cleaner.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: C5Allroad on Sat, 14 December 2013, 09:52:39
That or warm dish soap and water. It worked really well for my shine 3. A little brush works wonders too. Around the switches are some spots that the dust like to hide, if it bothers you as much as it does me than, it is unacceptable to have dust lol.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: fohat.digs on Sat, 14 December 2013, 10:16:49
When I buy a used keyboard, I disassemble it as far as I dare (or further) and scrub everything that can stand it in warm soapy water. I soak caps in hot water with a spoonful of laundry detergent and Oxi-clean.

Everything else gets vacuumed and wiped down with alcohol, paper towel for flat surfaces and Q-tip for tight corners.

Adhesive residue comes off with naptha (test on the back side first) and a pencil eraser is sometimes good for stubborn spots, but it can erode the surface texture.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: C5Allroad on Sat, 14 December 2013, 12:59:28
Well then. That's a lot of work. But I guess for some it's worth it. Depending on the person you bought it from, people eat at their keyboard which to me is pretty nasty. I really hate eating at my desk/keyboard.
You can always buy one of those cans of compressed air if you don't want to pull all the caps off. Then again it's always easier to clean with all the caps off, or at least the main typing keys and you leave all the stabilized keys still on the board.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sat, 14 December 2013, 13:52:50
Quote from: HUNTERANGEL121 on Sat, 14 December 2013, 12:59:28
Well then. That's a lot of work. But I guess for some it's worth it. Depending on the person you bought it from, people eat at their keyboard which to me is pretty nasty. I really hate eating at my desk/keyboard.
You can always buy one of those cans of compressed air if you don't want to pull all the caps off. Then again it's always easier to clean with all the caps off, or at least the main typing keys and you leave all the stabilized keys still on the board.

You have to be careful with compressed are or you'll blow stuff where it doesn't belong.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: C5Allroad on Sat, 14 December 2013, 13:56:49
Like what? From what I've seen on my boards the only thing that can really get blown off are the keys, unless you're talking about the dust getting pushed into your keys, then that's a different story.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 14 December 2013, 14:03:24
Quote from: HUNTERANGEL121 on Sat, 14 December 2013, 13:56:49
Like what? From what I've seen on my boards the only thing that can really get blown off are the keys, unless you're talking about the dust getting pushed into your keys, then that's a different story.

there is an insane amount of DNA on the typical [USED] keyboard.. intentional dna or otherwise... LOTs of it...

(http://www.cute-factor.com/images/smilies/onion/8dcf9699.gif)
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: MKULTRA on Sat, 14 December 2013, 15:36:23
Take of the keycaps and soak in denture tabs + water.  Used canned air to get all the **** out from under.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sat, 14 December 2013, 15:39:10
Quote from: HUNTERANGEL121 on Sat, 14 December 2013, 13:56:49
Like what? From what I've seen on my boards the only thing that can really get blown off are the keys, unless you're talking about the dust getting pushed into your keys, then that's a different story.

Yeah dust etc can get in switches and stabilizers and you could possibly blow something onto your PCB, maybe not likely but definitely possible.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: rowdy on Sat, 14 December 2013, 16:07:09
Quote from: tp4tissue on Sat, 14 December 2013, 14:03:24
Quote from: HUNTERANGEL121 on Sat, 14 December 2013, 13:56:49
Like what? From what I've seen on my boards the only thing that can really get blown off are the keys, unless you're talking about the dust getting pushed into your keys, then that's a different story.

there is an insane amount of DNA on the typical [USED] keyboard.. intentional dna or otherwise... LOTs of it...

Show Image
(http://www.cute-factor.com/images/smilies/onion/8dcf9699.gif)


So you should unpack a secondhand keyboard whilst wearing rubber gloves, then keep it in an airtight container for 6 months in case it is needed as evidence.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: jonathanyu on Sat, 14 December 2013, 16:38:05
Quote from: SpAmRaY on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:35:06
http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=65
every time i see this kind of cleaning glue i remember this
(http://imageshack.us/a/img18/2402/imag0845k.jpg)
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: C5Allroad on Sat, 14 December 2013, 17:02:51
Quote from: rowdy on Sat, 14 December 2013, 16:07:09
Quote from: tp4tissue on Sat, 14 December 2013, 14:03:24
Quote from: HUNTERANGEL121 on Sat, 14 December 2013, 13:56:49
Like what? From what I've seen on my boards the only thing that can really get blown off are the keys, unless you're talking about the dust getting pushed into your keys, then that's a different story.

there is an insane amount of DNA on the typical [USED] keyboard.. intentional dna or otherwise... LOTs of it...

Show Image
(http://www.cute-factor.com/images/smilies/onion/8dcf9699.gif)


So you should unpack a secondhand keyboard whilst wearing rubber gloves, then keep it in an airtight container for 6 months in case it is needed as evidence.
That would defeat the purpose of buying a board... When I buy a used board I would soak it denture tabs with water, while the PCB is on the kitchen counter.
Then again I usually never buy used boards unless it's topre or mx clears.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 14 December 2013, 17:03:07
Quote from: jonathanyu on Sat, 14 December 2013, 16:38:05
Quote from: SpAmRaY on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:35:06
http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=65
every time i see this kind of cleaning glue i remember this
Show Image
(http://imageshack.us/a/img18/2402/imag0845k.jpg)


did this work?
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: 1391406 on Sat, 14 December 2013, 17:18:38
Quote from: tp4tissue on Sat, 14 December 2013, 17:03:07
Quote from: jonathanyu on Sat, 14 December 2013, 16:38:05
Quote from: SpAmRaY on Fri, 13 December 2013, 15:35:06
http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=65
every time i see this kind of cleaning glue i remember this
Show Image
(http://imageshack.us/a/img18/2402/imag0845k.jpg)


did this work?

At making a complete mess, yes.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: Nixietube on Sat, 14 December 2013, 17:20:01
i just take out the keys and clean them one by one by using alcohol and tissues. then clean out the base of the keyboard with alcohol and qtips and put everything back together.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: terran5992 on Sat, 14 December 2013, 20:15:14
Unplug the keyboard and dump in water
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: Canious on Sat, 14 December 2013, 21:28:16
I clean with lysol wipes/spray then use micro fiber cloth to finish
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: rowdy on Sat, 14 December 2013, 22:04:45
Quote from: Canious on Sat, 14 December 2013, 21:28:16
I clean with lysol wipes/spray then use micro fiber cloth to finish

Just picturing you and Ivan sitting side by side cleaning keyboards :))
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: fohat.digs on Sun, 15 December 2013, 09:01:57
Quote from: MKULTRA on Sat, 14 December 2013, 15:36:23
Used canned air to get all the **** out from under.

I agree with Spam Ray that blowing can move the dust into bad places. At least vacuum thoroughly to pick up the tiny loose stuff before you start blowing it around.

And when I do use a blower, I hold the keyboard upside-down, always with the caps off.
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sun, 15 December 2013, 09:11:55
Quote from: terran5992 on Sat, 14 December 2013, 20:15:14
Unplug the keyboard and dump in water

For all the noobs this is a really bad idea...
Title: Re: Cleaning Keyboards
Post by: cmadrid on Mon, 16 December 2013, 09:05:29
A magic eraser can help a lot too