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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => DIY Discussions ARCHIVE => Topic started by: skcheng on Mon, 15 March 2010, 16:10:07

Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Mon, 15 March 2010, 16:10:07: I searched and didn't come up with anything. I've been picking up some used boards and I'm realizing that everyone has a different opinion of clean. I have an ultrasonic unit at work along with cold disinfectant.

What does everyone here use to clean dirty keys? Windex? Alchohol?

Thanks,

skc
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Mon, 15 March 2010, 16:46:05: Thank you!!
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Sat, 20 March 2010, 09:31:02: Okay, I've started cleaning the keys on some old disgusting keyboards. At first, I looked and thought.......wow, even double shot keys can fade. Then I quickly realized that underneath the coffee, donut jelly and other grime was some shiny white lettering. Just nasty. And the fuzz and food and hair underneath the keyboard??? And some nail clipping??

Anyway, I pulled off the keys, gloved up and just started scrubbing. But that's not enough. I threw all of the keys into a ziploc bag with a Fixodent tablet and ultra sonic cleaned them for 30 minutes. The water turned black........yechhh. Next I cleaned them again with clean water and windex and now they look like new.

I need some nicer, cleaner doubleshots.......

Can't we get a new set from somewhere? Anywhere?

skc
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Sat, 20 March 2010, 10:56:42: Go to the top right and type in "cleaning dirty keys" and see if anything comes up? Now that Rip has kindly directed me to the Wiki here on Geekhack, I'll try my best to read up before asking. I'll get up to speed. Promise.

But on that note, what is your preferred method for cleaning up nasty keys??
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Sat, 20 March 2010, 11:06:32: Quote from: ripster;165573
Some guy in China was pulling them off new keyboards and selling them in China on some Chinese auction site.

Majestouch (Elitekeyboards) isn't interested in buying a bulk order from Signature Plastics and reselling it appears.

Numerous others (Fentek and other members here individually) have approached Cherry Corp and been thoroughly stonewalled.

Answer is no, not really.

So far I have a nice complete set of double shot keys off of an MY 7000 aka G81-7000HPBUS-2/02. I'm looking at the caps lock and the space bar and I think I can center those. Well.....I'll try anyway.

The DS keys are so bright compared to the standard Filcos. Very nice and worth the Mr. Clean effort.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Sat, 20 March 2010, 11:10:04: Quote from: ripster;165591
I like NIB keyboards so rarely have the problem.

If I do I generally just throw them in a bucket of Simple Green. Rinse. Dry.

You especially want to be careful with vintage black/grey keys. They can get plastic white "blooming" if you expose them to heat or strong chemicals. Simple Green leaves them a little greasy and avoids that.

Thanks Rip. That's the sorta "need to know" stuff that I hoped I would get as a response. I like NIB too, but dumpster diving for vintage is also a load of fun.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: kishy on Sat, 20 March 2010, 12:04:34: I've had good luck with the denture cleaning tablet trick...but I've only done Model M keycaps in it. Might be messy for Alps or Cherry for example where there's a small hole the solution could accumulate in.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Sat, 20 March 2010, 12:29:24: Quote from: kishy;165619
I've had good luck with the denture cleaning tablet trick...but I've only done Model M keycaps in it. Might be messy for Alps or Cherry for example where there's a small hole the solution could accumulate in.

Fixodent worked well for me in the ultrasonic cleaner. And I have a lot of that stuff. And if it's safe for denture acrylic.....

I can say that it's safe for Cherry DS keys. I just blew them out with compressed air (I have a compressor at work with small tips) and they air dried quickly.

I'll have to get some Simple Green to try also.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Sat, 20 March 2010, 12:43:47: Quote from: ripster;165622
Well.....as long as you don't mind zinc poisoning.

That's certain adhesives, not the tablets ..... I think??
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Sat, 20 March 2010, 12:49:48: Quote from: ripster;165624
Jk. But Simple Green is quite safe. You can even use it to clean your horse. (http://www.simplegreen.com/solutions_cleaning_tips.php?sid=&action=artikel&cat=15&id=147&artlang=en&highlight=horses&application=Horses%20and%20Horse%20Stalls)

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks. :deadhorse:
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: brkz on Sat, 20 March 2010, 13:24:40: Ordinary soapy water (I use dish soap) and a small brush works fine as well. Even gets ballpoint ink off model M cases.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: EverythingIBM on Sun, 21 March 2010, 03:23:36: I used to use a butterknife to scratch off all the grime; but I ended up slicing some of my labels.

Now I pop them off and stick them in a bowl with water and some soap. Then I pluck one by one and scrub them.

Using pressurized water is also useful; I use it to clean the bezels (usually).
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: fastbuck on Tue, 23 March 2010, 09:19:47: I've cleaned key caps on over a dozen keyboards last month using this ultrasonic cleaner (done 3 just yesterday):

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95563 (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95563)

Also shopvac and bristle brush work well for cleaning switches mounting plate, followed up with some q-tips.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Tue, 23 March 2010, 09:38:27: Quote from: fastbuck;166311
I've cleaned key caps on over a dozen keyboards last month using this ultrasonic cleaner (done 3 just yesterday):

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95563 (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95563)

Also shopvac and bristle brush work well for cleaning switches mounting plate, followed up with some q-tips.

I have a large ultrasonic unit at my office and that's what I used for the keys on an absolutely filthy keyboard. I dropped in a denture cleaner tablet since I have those. And I tried windex. What solution have you found to be effective/safe?

Thx for commenting.

I used compressed air and Q-tips to clean the rest of the board. Rip recommends Green Magic so I'll probably pick up some.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: itlnstln on Tue, 23 March 2010, 09:52:56: Quote from: skcheng;166312
Rip recommends Green Magic so I'll probably pick up some.

It's "Simple Green." "Green Magic" in your posession might land you 10-15 up north depending on how much you have. If you don't get caught, you could have some fun, though.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Tue, 23 March 2010, 10:00:50: Quote from: itlnstln;166314
It's "Simple Green." "Green Magic" in your posession might land you 10-15 up north depending on how much you have. If you don't get caught, you could have some fun, though.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Where's my head this morning??
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: itlnstln on Tue, 23 March 2010, 10:02:12: Quote from: skcheng;166316
Where's my head this morning??

That's the "Green Magic" kicking in.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: fastbuck on Tue, 23 March 2010, 15:26:01: Quote from: skcheng;166312
I have a large ultrasonic unit at my office and that's what I used for the keys on an absolutely filthy keyboard. I dropped in a denture cleaner tablet since I have those. And I tried windex. What solution have you found to be effective/safe?

A few drops of dishwashing liquid is all I needed. My unit also has a heater, so I get the water to where it's hot, but you can still put your hand for a couple seconds.

I used this method to wash some FILFY FILFY keycaps. It even worked to clean an old Honda throttle body that had a bunch of crud and carbon deposit. So it's cheap and no smelly chemicals to deal with, which is a big deal when doing it in the office.

Quote from: skcheng;166312
I used compressed air and Q-tips to clean the rest of the board. Rip recommends Green Magic so I'll probably pick up some.

The keyboard I cleaned yesterday had so much garbage and hair under the keycap - I would not dare to blow it out with air, but it does work well for lighter cleaning.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: Frawg on Wed, 24 March 2010, 22:03:54: I just dumped mine in hydrogen peroxide. I was hoping that it would get the white a bit whiter too. Did it? not sure.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Mon, 05 April 2010, 13:39:28: I got a few more Model M keyboards in. Really brown/stained keys. I was just about to throw them away when I decided to give it a try with some heavy duty cleaner/solvents. I placed them for an hour in my heated ultrasonic with soft scrub with bleach and then scrubbed them individually with a bristle brush. Guess what??? They now look like NEW!! And the printing is completely un affected. I now have a much higher respect level for the dye sublimation process. Very impressive. No wonder why Model M keys rarely look worn out.

skc
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: itlnstln on Mon, 05 April 2010, 13:47:51: Dye sub is my favorite key printing process next to double shot. They have a nice, clean look and don't have the "engraved" quality of laser-etching.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: elservo on Mon, 05 April 2010, 15:56:39: I just put rubbing alcohol in a solo cup and dump ten in at a time and take them out and scrub them with a lint free rag one by one. It's really easy on the hands as the alcohol gets the dirt loose so the scrubbing only takes a few seconds. Your fingers will be dried out when you're done, but that's ok, you're a man and men don't care.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: itlnstln on Mon, 05 April 2010, 16:11:44: Quote from: elservo;169817
Your fingers will be dried out when you're done, but that's ok, you're a man and men don't care.

As long as you have a GF, Wife, Friend w/benefits, or all three. Otherwise, you might have a reason to complain.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: elservo on Mon, 05 April 2010, 19:27:54: Yeah, mine is the proven "Tiger Woods Method."

But I can say that the alcohol is fine on colored keys, but only if they are of good quality. I use that method on a POS Cherry board from 1988 or so and the only keys that lost a little bit of their color were a couple replacement keys I ordered a few years ago. The original ones got brighter. Speaking of that board, I still haven't snapped any pics of it for you guys, and I promised I would. I'll bring my camera to work soon so you can see this old monster. What takes care of the yellowing?
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: elservo on Mon, 05 April 2010, 19:58:47: I wish I could use the Photoshop airbrush tool in real life. I would actually pay for Photoshop if I could do that.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: Nonmouse on Mon, 05 April 2010, 20:22:16: I'm thinking a mix of hydrogen peroxide, bleach, fixodent, cider vinegar, retrobrite, Simple Green, dish soap, soft scrub and a dash of MEK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanone), just to to safe, then inserting a sonic homogenizer (http://www.omni-inc.com/omni-sonic-ruptor-400-ultrasonic-homogenizer-p-45.html?zenid=bd6e11b2cdb8977374300e3e075fc04d) and exposing it to 254nm uv for a few hours.

Whatta think? Whitest keycaps evah?
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Mon, 05 April 2010, 20:23:51: Quote from: Nonmouse;169907
I'm thinking a mix of hydrogen peroxide, bleach, fixodent, cider vinegar, retrobrite, Simple Green, dish soap, soft scrub and a dash of MEK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanone), just to to safe, then inserting a sonic homogenizer (http://www.omni-inc.com/omni-sonic-ruptor-400-ultrasonic-homogenizer-p-45.html?zenid=bd6e11b2cdb8977374300e3e075fc04d) and exposing it to 254nm uv for a few hours.

Whatta think? Whitest keycaps evah?

Tried just about all of that, but my yellowish double shot keycaps are still yellowish.....
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: Nonmouse on Mon, 05 April 2010, 20:34:53: Oh, and as a note to the kiddies watching at home- DON'T really try this. It will produce toxic, probably explosive gasses, and melt your keycaps into slag, more than likely. Bleach and vinegar or cider or ammonia or..., in particular, should never be mixed.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Tue, 06 April 2010, 07:42:23: Quote from: ripster;169915
Have you really tried the RetrObrite?

I did a quick test on my not that yellow NeXT and it got brighter. Before pic in the mod post.
Show Image
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=8249&stc=1&d=1268154806)

Actually.....no. Have you received yours yet?? I wonder if yours will look the same?? It's a small difference. I wonder if 35% Superoxol would work to lighten the color?? I use that for power bleaching. I'll try it when I get in to work later today.
Title: Cleaning Dirty Keys??
Post by: skcheng on Mon, 12 April 2010, 18:32:14: After cleaning a dozen sets of Model M type keys, I can safely say that a denture cleaning tablet in an ultrasonic works well and is very safe. I've also heard that washing the keys in a dishwasher is another method for cleaning these keys.

Quick before/after. Little black speck by the > key is dust on my sensor. Time to clean that with a sensor wipe.

(http://fototime.com/E20E417262F419A/standard.jpg)

(http://fototime.com/8F9F77FD670EFF5/standard.jpg)