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Reviews / Evaluation of Dust and Fiber Resistance of Mechanical Keyswitches
« Last post by TheSoulhunter on Sat, 16 May 2026, 20:41:45 »
Since I tested a lot of switches lately...
I wondered how much the different stem designs influence ingress of dirt/dust into the switch.

So, I conducted some tests...


Why Even Care?

Dirt, dust, hair, etc. is something that hits every mechanical keyboard eventually.
If it finds its way into the switches, it can have a negative impact (scratchiness, malfunction).
No matter how careful you are, the open nature of classic MX switches will lead to contamination over time.

I’ve had some malfunctioning switches in the past that looked perfectly clean from the outside.
But after opening them, I found a tiny hair, or gritty lube inside.



How Stuff Gets In?

The classic MX switch has a small gap all around the stem.
Small, but big enough to allow fine dust to slip trough.
When the stem travels down, the situation gets worse.

Cherry MX Grey with the stem pressed down:

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Even with keycaps installed, dust will (WILL!) find it's way onto the switch.
Fine dust floats around in the room and moves with the air currents.
It will get into every place that is not properly sealed off.

Then there’s is also the classic move a lot of people do...
Flipping the keyboard upside down and giving it a good shake to remove debris.
Most falls straight out, but some gets caught in the inner side (cup) of the keycaps.
When you set the board back down, those particles drop right down onto the switch/stem.



What Household Dust Is Actually Made Of?

For the most part, tiny fibers, and dead skin...
In rural/green areas, it might also contain things like pollen.
In dry/hot parts of the world, it might contain sand/soil (dust from outside).
But even within the same environment, the exact composition depends on the household.

In urban areas, dead human skin cells make up roughly 50% of typical indoor dust.
Broken-off fabric fibers (from clothing, carpets, bed-sheets, etc.) about 40%.

In a carpet-heavy home you’ll see a higher percentage of fabric fibers.
A home with hardwood floors will have a higher percentage of dead skin.

In hot/dry environments, most of the dust (up to 90%) might come from outside.



Why is this a problem?

Over time, dust that gets into the switch, mixes with the lube, and creates a gritty paste.
Fibers that get in might wrap around the contacts or spring and cause binding or chatter.
Smooth travel becomes scratchy, tactile switches stick, keypressed dont register.
I even had some Cherry MX Blue switches in the past that stopped clicking.


Closed-Box style stems (like on Kailh Box switches) seem to add a protective wall around the stem.
This design significantly reduces the gap you get on the classic design when the key is pressed.

Kailh Box Brown V2 with the stem pressed down:

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Same goes for closed-cylinder style stems (Gateron, Kailh) and other closed shapes.
Notched Box designs (AKKO, BSUN, OUTEMU, JWICK, TTC...) are (in theory) somewhere in between.



What did I test, and how did I do it?

Basically, I did a accelerated contamination test...
But as this is just a "curious hobbyist" test, take it with a grain of salt.

1. Abrasive contaminants (dust and fibers) were generated from Scotch-Brite pads
2. Switches were exposed under (sorta) controlled conditions
3. Switches got actuated 10 times after the dust exposure
4. Switches got cleaned (outer side) with a static brush
5. Switches got evaluated for scratchiness, sticking...



Materials, Methods, Process

I used key-switches from major manufacturers (Cherry, Kailh, Gateron...)
The Switches were chosen to represent a range of stem types and housing designs.

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Prior to contamination, all switches were tested (in stock condition).
Multiple identical units of each model were used to enable statistical replication.

Each switch was mounted on a switch tester and actuated many times.
Actuation feel was documented (smoothness/scratchiness/stickiness).

I felt that dust from abrasives would be best, as it's ingress into the switch would be more noticeable.
I decided to go with Scotch-Brite pads which I rubbed against each other.
This not only creates scratchy dust but also small fibers.

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The switch tester was securely fixed at the bottom of a small sealed container.
A "precisely measured" (not) amount of the contaminant mixture was placed into the container.
The container was sealed and vigorously shaken for 30 seconds to achieve a random/even distribution.

After shaking, the container was left undisturbed for 1 minute to allow airborne particles to settle. 
Once settling was complete, the chamber was carefully opened under minimal airflow.
 
Each key-switch was manually actuated 10 times in succession.

Post-actuation, the switches were carefully cleaned with a soft static brush.
Performance degradation was evaluated (comparison vs stock-condition).



The Result?

Box-style switches showed significantly lower contamination effects compared to standard MX-style switches.
Sticking only occurred in tactile switches, mostly the ones that had a weak return to begin with.
Designs with tighter housing tolerances seem to have a bit less dust inside of them.
Notched VS Closed Box did not seem to make much of a difference.
Lubed switches worsened more than un-lubed switches.



What next?

Future work could focus on housing tolerances...
Just "Dusting -> Cleaning -> Evaluating" without the actuation before the cleaning.
Also I'd like to get (lend...) a microscope to inspect the inside of the switches visually.



What is your experience with dirt/dust/fiber ingress into switches?
How do you clean/de-dust your keyboards?
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Reviews / A Long Journey... Summary and Conclusion PART II
« Last post by TheSoulhunter on Sat, 16 May 2026, 20:02:39 »
This is the continuation of THIS thread.

Just a quick follow-up...
I tested some more switches:

MMD Princess V4 Tactile 60g
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The DUROCK T1 67g
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The Gateron Azure Dragon V4
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The Sillyworks X HMX Waverider V2
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The Durock Blue Lotus T1
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The Gateron Kangaroo
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The Gateron Green Apple
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The Duhuk Bitter Tea Purple V2
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The Gazzew Boba U4T 68g (Thanks @Lando)
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The HMX Firecracker (Thanks @Lando)
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The HMX Retro J (Thanks @Lando)
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The Wingtree Yunie (Thanks @Lando)
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Some looked very promising on paper...
Others I was just curious about how they feel.

Setup was the same as the last time...
But I didn't do as much spring swapping so far.


Results


The Sillyworks X HMX Waverider V2
- Clacky sound (loud and bright)
- Crisp break (like the Box Brown V2)
- Overall a nice switch

The Durock Blue Lotus T1
- Sound is more on the thocky side
- Overall they feel snappy
- Strong early bump
- Smooth
- Exellent switch - I recommend!

The Gateron Baby Kangaroo
- Clacky sound (not as bright as the Waverider V2)
- Early bump and short travel
- Snappy/Poppy on the return
- Not sure if I like them

The Gateron Green Apple
- More on the thocky side (but not deep sounding)
- Early and long "flat" bump (lacks pointiness)
- Don't like them

Duhuk Bitter Tea Purple V2
- Bright sound (almost clicky)
- Snappy break, Short travel, Hard landing
- Unusual, but not in a bad way - More testing needed

The Gazzew Black Boba U4T 68g
- Tocky (muted) with somewhat brighter return
- Early bump, nice (but not crisp) break
- Very smooth
- I like them, but they might be over-hyped (plox don't kill me)

The HMX Firecracker
- Clacky and on the louder side (hence the name I guess)
- Early bump and crisp break
- Snappy feel
- Fun switch like the Type R, but brighter and crisper
- Spring swapping (+3g - +5g) makes them more balanced

The HMX Retro J
- Clacky (bright and loud)
- Short travel
- All bump (but not "flat" feeling like the Green Apple)
- Same flavor as the Type R but with its own character
- I like them very much - Will get more of them soon

The Wingtree Yunie
- In between clacky and thocky
- Early bump, nice break, nice return
- Great value - Kinda like slightly brighter and cheaper Type R

Gateron Azure Dragon V4
- In between clacky and thocky (more thoky than the Yunie)
- Early bump, nice break, nice snappy return
- Short travel
- I think I like them - Not sure - Need more testing

Durock T1 67g
- Thocky (muted)
- Nice break (smooth but not crisp)
- They feel snappy but somewhat "dampened"
- Great value - But the stem is the most wobbly so far

MMD Princess V4 Tactile 60g
- Clacky sound (bright)
- Similar to the Boba U4T in feel but tighter and shorter travel
- I think I actually like them more than the Boba U4T - More testing


My Top 5  is still dominated by the Box Bworn V2, Jupiter Banana and Type R for now.
But the Retro J, Yunie, Blue Lotus, Waverider V2, and Princess V4 are strong contenders!

Might take me the better part of a year to come to a final conclusion (if ever). But let's see :)
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geekhack Media / Let's make Wallpapers [Keyboard Related]
« Last post by TheSoulhunter on Sat, 16 May 2026, 18:38:10 »
This thread is for posting keyboard-related wallpapers made by you.
Photos, Digital art, Illustrations, Oil Paintings...


Guidelines:

It should be 1440p or higher resolution
It should be made by you


I start...

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Interest Checks / Re: [IC] GMK CYL Evil Lime
« Last post by nadhole69 on Sat, 16 May 2026, 15:18:34 »
UPDATE:
  • I read a lot of feedback and they were very helpful, I decided to change the purple to improve the clarity of alphas, and to consider a possible full lime kit(with purple alpha as extension)... I created a form to understand your preference :)
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What's the production timeline for the 9009 Fix Kit? Any updates?
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Interest Checks / Re: [IC] GMK CYL Evil Lime
« Last post by Warfinger on Sat, 16 May 2026, 10:42:52 »
I really like this. Good luck. 
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Nice multi-pink colour way. This would be my first SWG set any way. Glwic
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Here we have the first user image of the Round 2 B104 Beam Spring Keyboard!  This one is an ISO version with one of the new custom LED Overlay designs.  The key set includes extra keys so that you can pick which ones you want to install.

Please do share your B104 images!

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Just a quick message to say that the cable will not be part of the group buy. It will be an in-stock item that will be available roughly the same time as the keycap fulfilment... approximately.  There will be updates on Gtour's discord, and here.. but just keep an eye on my website as well.

David
Kool Keys.
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Group Buys and Preorders / Re: [GB] GMK CYL Prussian Alert | May 15th - June 12th
« Last post by Vadurr on Fri, 15 May 2026, 19:52:39 »
Its finally here  :p
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