Cleaning PBT keycaps with ultrasonic cleaner

[Macsmasher]

I bought an ultrasonic cleaner for my ammo reloading. But ultrasonic cleaners are for many other tasks. Jewelry stores use them to clean your rings, necklaces, etc. So I thought why not keycaps? The benefit is the sonic action dislodges embedded grime from places where nothing else can. In the case of keycaps, the textured surface of the caps. Just running them through the dishwasher in a net bag won't get it out.

You can pick one up from Harbor Freight or Amazon for $30 - $50.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ultrasonic+cleaner


So here's my 87U before the process:



Yes, we have a dog. While the keycaps were in the ultrasonic cleaner, I worked on cleaning up this mess:



I just used hot water and some dish soap in the cleaner for the keycaps:



And after the cleaning. Notice how the keycaps look more textured than in the before picture. That's because the ultrasonic action gets all the pounded in oils and grime that even a brush with soapy water can't reach:



Once you have an ultrasonic cleaner, you'll find lots of uses for it. For example, you can clean all of the wife's jewelry and score extra points! It's actually a lot of fun to play with haha.

[SpAmRaY]

I know @naasfu (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=72528.0) uses one of these and I was always tempted to get one when he posted about it but I think your before and after shots have convinced me it is time....

What sort of capacity rating should be looking for?

[Belfong]

  your keyboard is really dirty. Poor dog gets the blame, eh?
I am kidding.

Haven't heard of an ultra sonic cleaner. Now I am truly intrigue! It must be a huge difference from those canned blow air. Thanks for sharing.

[Macsmasher]

Mine is a one quart capacity, which easily fits all the keycaps from a single board. I ran it for several cycles, probably a total of 10 minutes or so.


I should caution those with painted keycap inscriptions. I haven't tried it, but am pretty sure it would remove the paint. And with ABS keycaps, you'd probably want to place something on top of them to keep them under the water.

[SpAmRaY]

your keyboard is really dirty. Poor dog gets the blame, eh?
I am kidding.

Haven't heard of an ultra sonic cleaner. Now I am truly intrigue! It must be a huge difference from those canned blow air. Thanks for sharing.

There's some good info in this thread also https://deskthority.net/photos-f62/ultrasound-keycap-cleaning-t14413.html

Mine is a one quart capacity, which easily fits all the keycaps from a single board. I ran it for several cycles, probably a total of 10 minutes or so.


I should caution those with painted keycap inscriptions. I haven't tried it, but am pretty sure it would remove the paint. And with ABS keycaps, you'd probably want to place something on top of them to keep them under the water.

Thanks for the info, now I've got some more researching to do.

[Macsmasher]

your keyboard is really dirty. Poor dog gets the blame, eh?
I am kidding.

Haven't heard of an ultra sonic cleaner. Now I am truly intrigue! It must be a huge difference from those canned blow air. Thanks for sharing.

I know right haha? I even have a keyboard roof and regularly use a datavac to blow off and vacuum my boards.

[Mechboards]

Only £30? Does it a pretty darn good job for that price!

[Tactile]

Arrow keys on "O K L ;" ? What's that for?

[tp4tissue]

You could soak caps in some dish soap in a covered container,   Then just lightly shake it a little on your own and get the same result..

[SpAmRaY]

You could soak caps in some dish soap in a covered container,   Then just lightly shake it a little on your own and get the same result..

That might be good for a general cleaning but check out how nasty those caps were wodan cleaned in the deskthority thread, no way you get results like that.

[tp4tissue]

You could soak caps in some dish soap in a covered container,   Then just lightly shake it a little on your own and get the same result..

That might be good for a general cleaning but check out how nasty those caps were wodan cleaned in the deskthority thread, no way you get results like that.

soak over night @-@

[Macsmasher]

You could soak caps in some dish soap in a covered container,   Then just lightly shake it a little on your own and get the same result..

If you say so, it must be true.

[Macsmasher]

Arrow keys on "O K L ;" ? What's that for?

I game left-handed mouse.

[tp4tissue]

You could soak caps in some dish soap in a covered container,   Then just lightly shake it a little on your own and get the same result..

If you say so, it must be true.

Tp4, 99.87% True Guarantee..

[tp4tissue]

Also, just read the op..

Please do not shoot tp with ammo..

tp4 not currently bulletproofed.

[Elrick]

Please do not shoot tp with ammo..

tp4 not currently bulletproofed.

You're in the Greatest Country on EARTH here, so lock and load.

Get an AR15 and a good Kevlar Vest and PARTY baby, like it's 1999  .

[tp4tissue]

Please do not shoot tp with ammo..

tp4 not currently bulletproofed.

You're in the Greatest Country on EARTH here, so lock and load.

Get an AR15 and a good Kevlar Vest and PARTY baby, like it's 1999  .

I will call you when I finally evolve an adequate exoskeleton

[Bucake]

ugh, another thing i want to buy.

also, nice touch, the shine on the case under the spacebar..

[jcoffin1981]

I have the same ultrasonic as teh OP, but I use it for other tasks.  This model  is about the best value and is considerably more powerful than the $30 dollar versions although considered hobbyist quality; you don't need a professional $800 dollar machine.

A word of note- I would be cautious about using it for legends that wear, like pad printed.  The ultrasonic will tear the plating from metal surfaces and if you put in aluminum foil it will actually put holes in it.  I'm sure it works great for keycaps if they are durable enough.  Soap causes the ultrasonic waves to travel better as well as having some cleaning action, so this is a good idea.