my keyboard is really, really, really, really, really dirty

[redsoxliberal]

the inside (as in under the keys) is filled with lots of dust, dirt, grime, plastic bits, termites (probably not.)

What should I do?

[barb162]

1. just keep typing; ignore it

[redsoxliberal]

4. i've tried... for YEARS!

[skygazer]

2. Well, I know what NOT to do

A friend of mine had the brilliant idea of cleaning his keyboard with the compressed air tank at his snowmobile repair shop. Do you know what 150 psi of compressed air does to a keyboard? I think he's probably still finding pieces of it...

[redsoxliberal]

3. wow... how high was he?

[skygazer]

5. Not high

Just stupid. :shrug:

[redsoxliberal]

6. haha... did he vote for W?

[redsoxliberal]

7. sorry to be a bother, but I still don't know what to do...

[skygazer]

9. Have you tried using those cans of compressed air?

They're made especially to clean out electronics and keyboards. I use one regularly - it won't get everything out but it does get rid of a good deal of dust and crap. It does NOT do what a regular compressed air tank does!

[redsoxliberal]

10. yeah... i have some desk shrapnel in my ass now

thanks for the suggestion.


BTW, dark side of the moon is my favourite album of all time.

[skygazer]

12. ...

:yourock:

[GrumpyGreg]

8. I actually snapped out each key and cleaned last winter

on a day in which I was snowed in.

Dull huh?

[redsoxliberal]

11. why didn't you go do something in the snow, you goof!

[GrumpyGreg]

14. Too old!

[redsoxliberal]

16. too grumpy, Greg?

:D

[GrumpyGreg]

23. That too---you sure have me figured out.

[GirlinContempt]

13. I take out my keys and clean it that way

but some keyboards, the keys don't come out. At work, we'd use alcohol soaked cloths to get inbetween the keys after shaking it upside down to get the worst of the crap out. Compressed air works too (in the little cans, not the giant things)

[Cozmosis]

32. I do this too.

[radwriter0555]

15. Spend $5 and get a new one.

They're so cheap, why not?

[redsoxliberal]

17. probably the right idea here.

[radwriter0555]

18. Yeah, they're kinda disposable now, if you don't go for bells n whistles.

They fit in a trash can real nice.

[aePrime]

19. Here's what I do

And some people have already stated similar suggestions.

If you want a really thorough clean, you can pop off the keys. I usually just hold the keyboard upside down and spray between the keys with compressed air.

To clean my computers, I use a mixture of 50% rubbing alcohol and 50% water. It's what they sell you at computer stores for $10. On the keyboard, I take Q-Tips and rub in all of the cracks with the mixture.

I've also used the mixture on screens, but be sure you have a cloth that won't scratch.

[Ratty]

20. Post some pictures

I've seen some DISGUSTING keyboards at work. Worse, my own keyboard was one. Somebody saw it and said "Yuck," and I seemed to see it for the first time and it was truly sickening. I think dirty keyboards seem to sneak up on you. The process is so slow you don't really notice it until some threshhold of squalor is reached. It's like your bathtub in a way. Sometimes you don't realize how dirty your tub has gotten until you get around to cleaning it and marvel at it's sparkling, pristine whiteness.

There must a gallery of the most disgusting keyboards ever someplace on the web.

[miss_kitty]

29. I got assigned to a desk with a VILE keyboard

after I was demoted at Nordstrom. My boss thought I was having some mental breakdown because I spent ages with q-tips and rubbing alcohol cleaning it. I had to show her the q-tips to prove I wasn't crazy or totally depressed-just that the previous desk person was a pig

[aePrime]

31. I've done the same thing

I'm a computer science instructor at a university, and there's a policy that I spend some of my office hours at a type of tutoring center. The keyboards are absolutely disgusting.

One day I brought in a bunch of q-tips and rubbing alcohol and spent an hour scrubbing the keyboard.

Sadly, I'm going to have to do it again soon.

[Omphaloskepsis]

21. I put mine in the dishwasher.

I have a older Apple ADB keyboard and it works fine after running through. I usually take it apart after to let it dry. Letting it dry for a long time is key.

http://plasticbugs.com/index.php?p=263

I'm not the only one to do this.

[Wapsie B]

25. Yes I've done that too.

[caty]

22. OMG

Are we supposed to be cleaning our keyboards? Really--I wait for my son to come by and if he uses my computer while he's here and notices that it's dirty, he cleans it for me. I just have to keep acting computer illiterate! (I'm afraid to clean it. I might make it crash.) :silly:

[Tari]

24. Follow these directions:

http://ylatis.com/darkon/humor/flochart.html

[NYdemocrat089]

26. Thankyou for that!

I needed a good laugh.

As for you, redsoxliberal, I have no idea how to clean a keyboard. Our's is dirty too. I just try to ignore it. If they are cheap (I'm not sure what the price of a new keyboard is) I'd suggest you just buy a new one if it really bugs you.

[redsoxliberal]

30. lol class advice

[YellowRubberDuckie]

27. I took Clorox Wipes...

...and a q-tip. Wrapped the wipe around it and went to work. This was at work. I didn't have a lot to do that day, so I cleaned. It was actually kind of fun. :evilgrin: I know I'm sick in the head.
Duckie

[HughMoran]

28. I got a little keyboard duster at a conference recently

I could lend it to you :)

:hi: