Apple keyboard cleaning

[rowanhall]

i know... a very boring post! :)

basically, i love these keyboards but the one flaw is that the dust really shows under the keys!

does anybody have any tips on cleaning these?

thanks!

Rowan

[Gordy]

i know... a very boring post! :)

basically, i love these keyboards but the one flaw is that the dust really shows under the keys!

does anybody have any tips on cleaning these?

thanks!

Rowan


They are a pain to clean the best bet is to remove the keys and use a can of air to get rid of any dust underneath. The only way to clean it fully tho its to take it completly apart which isnt easy.

[Rocksaurus]

I did this a few months ago... Make sure when you take off the keys that you lay them out how they are on the keyboard as you take them off... Or take a picture of the keyboard... This is about an hour long task and the keyboard gets dirty again pretty fast...

[gMac]

I ran across this link a while ago and bookmarked it. Maybe you'll find it useful too.

http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/bgracey/prokeyboardrepair.html

[asif786]

hehe, i know - it's disgusting when you can see crumbs and things like that right under the keyboard..eugh.

now i just change my wireless keyboard every three months. it's not cheap but it saves the time of opening and cleaning. obviously not the best solution, but great if you're lazy! :)

[alexprice]

Canned air rocks!

[James Philp]

For normal USB keyboards you can get them professionally cleaned (for spills etc), and apparently the cleaning process is not all that different to taking all the keys off, putting the KB in a dishwasher (no soap and low temp) and washing it like that - crazy eh!
All you need do is wait for the thing to fully dry and then re-attach the keys.
I realize this sounds crazy, but they do it! For $19 you can get a new one though, and I don't think you can clean BT KBs like this. :eek:
For normal dirt and grime a wet wipe and compressed air will work.

[rowanhall]

cheers to all the kind folks of macrumours who helped me with this one! :)

no major damage thankfully! just the normal stuff that collects between keys!

because they are gorgeous keyboards, so its important they are kept tip-top! :rolleyes:

i will take all the advice onboard and do it after i get a tin of compressed air and some time to myself!

i had seen those exoskin rubber covers when i was looking for the one for the ipod. it says that they don't interfere with typing? i would have thought it would be quite noticable, anybody used one? i'm not a spiller though! :)

[cgratti]

Ok this may sound strange, but trust me it works great. You will need a keyboard to borrow for a few days while the other keyboard dries.

Take your keyboard and put it in the dishwasher and run it through a cycle with NO detergent. Just run it throught the whole cycle, then take it out and hang it to dry for a few days. I spilled soda on a keyboard and someone told me to do this and I did, there were no stuck keys and it looked like new.

JUST BE AWARE, THE KEYBOARD MUST BE FULLY DRY BEFORE YOU PLUG IT IN OR YOU RISK FRYING YOU SYSTEM!

[link92]

I normally wash the keys when I put them back on, just with washing liquid, then try them, then put them back on.

[aussie_geek]

Ok this may sound strange, but trust me it works great. You will need a keyboard to borrow for a few days while the other keyboard dries.

Take your keyboard and put it in the dishwasher and run it through a cycle with NO detergent. Just run it throught the whole cycle, then take it out and hang it to dry for a few days. I spilled soda on a keyboard and someone told me to do this and I did, there were no stuck keys and it looked like new.

JUST BE AWARE, THE KEYBOARD MUST BE FULLY DRY BEFORE YOU PLUG IT IN OR YOU RISK FRYING YOU SYSTEM!

Hmmm.. Not so sure on this one. Would you mind sending me a keyboard? I am eager to test this!! :D


aussie_geek

[allisonv7]

I popped off my keys a couple weeks ago and used damp q-tips to clean everything, along with some canned air. Worked great and didn't take too long :)


allison.

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Whenever my girlfriend vacuumes our house (we have a arrangement where she vacuumes and I cook ;)) she always just swiftly goes over the keyboards of her Pismo and my iBook with the vacuum cleaner. She uses one of the smaller mouth pieces (the one used for our couch) and carefully sweeps it a couple of times. She's never loosened any keys and this has kept our keyboards very clean for years now.

Only when I've handled the keyboard with dirty fingers (food grease or melted chocolate are usually the culprits) I use some mild cleaning product on a soft, hot and damp cloth or, if I need to get between the keys, a Q-tip...

[asif786]

Only when I've handled the keyboard with dirty fingers (food grease or melted chocolate are usually the culprits) I use some mild cleaning product on a soft, hot and damp cloth or, if I need to get between the keys, a Q-tip...

my god, i know exactly what you mean - i was eating chocolate digestives today and got melted chocolate all over my fingers and then touched the kb. stupid-ass thing to do, i know.

in terms of vacuum cleaners, i once did it but left the suction on too high - swallowed up the arrow keey from my ibook :o had to empty thing to get it out :mad: heh

[cgratti]

Hmmm.. Not so sure on this one. Would you mind sending me a keyboard? I am eager to test this!! :D


aussie_geek

It really does work... I have cleaned many o' keyboards this way. They come out sparkling new. Just remember to be sure your keyboard is completely dry before plugging it back in.

Heres a link to check it out yourself.
KEYBOARD CLEANING (http://www.boingboing.net/2005/05/30/clean_your_keyboard_.html)

[tech4all]

now i just change my wireless keyboard every three months. it's not cheap but it saves the time of opening and cleaning. obviously not the best solution, but great if you're lazy! :)

What do you do with the keyboards once you buy a new one?

[katie ta achoo]

What do you do with the keyboards once you buy a new one?

Yeah, if you just throw them out, I'd take it.

...and totally not put it on ebay after I clean it. :D

(man, I need a job/source of income)

[DJC17]

hehe, i know - it's disgusting when you can see crumbs and things like that right under the keyboard..eugh.

now i just change my wireless keyboard every three months. it's not cheap but it saves the time of opening and cleaning. obviously not the best solution, but great if you're lazy! :)

Sheesh... rich boy! :eek:

Do you eBay the others?

[cooknwitha]

I just cleaned my keyboard! Stupid me never realised you could take the keys off easily until I found this thread! I was always looking for screws (which are hard to find!!!)

I'm so happy now. A nice clean keyboard. It hadn't been cleaned since I got it (Sept 2002) so needless to say, I could have easily cloned myself numerous times with all the hair, dust and crumbs in the keyboard. ERGH!!

[StokeLee]

:mad: Its a bit unrelated but,,,,, at work,, ewww gross,, you should see some of the things that has come out of my keyboards, we hot desk,(switch desks) so I havent got my own desk,, well not more than a few months,, and ive had to stop myself from throwing up sometimes,,,, just gross,,,,,,,,

[mrviga]

I'm pretty sure I can't put a bluetooth keyboard in the dishwasher...right? I mean that's just common sense....but I dunno. Anyone know for sure?

[mad jew]

Anyone know for sure?


She'll be right. Just make sure the batteries aren't in and that you dry it thoroughly afterwards.

[Nermal]

Take your keyboard and put it in the dishwasher and run it through a cycle with NO detergent.

And make sure it's not a hot wash :eek:

[tangent23]

hi..

was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to remove texta [permanent marker] from a AI powerbook keyboard?

it's not too bad, but it ruins the nice clean look of my GF's PB [which she hasn't seen yet btw]

will methylated spirit mark the keyboard?

[jamesW135]

Sorry but I think thats stuck there unless you remove the keys and soak themin some abbrasive liquid, but that might rub off the lettering!

[mad jew]

Eucalyptus oil might work tangent23 but I hold absolutely no responsibility for missing letters. :p

I remember reading somewhere that eucalyptus oil was a really effective natural cleaner. It works well on glass from experience, but I have no idea about PowerBooks. It might be worthwhile trying a little bit of it out on the underside of the keyboard so if any damage is done, it won't be noticed.

[tangent23]

ha!

it seems to be slowly rubbing off through use so it's all good..

i might try eucalyptus oil with my white keyboard at work, it's looking a bit grimy.. plus it'll smell nice and fresh! :D

[EricNau]

OK...Everyone keeps saying just to put the keyboard in the dishwasher...will this work with my wireless BT keyboard?

[stevep]

hi..

was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to remove texta [permanent marker] from a AI powerbook keyboard?

it's not too bad, but it ruins the nice clean look of my GF's PB [which she hasn't seen yet btw]

will methylated spirit mark the keyboard?
I've used meths on a keyboard to remove permanent marker and its been ok, but I'm not going to guarantee it.
But you could try a metal polish like Brasso or Silvo (UK names) - I think the liquid content of these act as a solvent, so you shouldn't need to rub hard. Failing that try any computer cleaner type product (eg screen wipes) as they all contain a solvent of some sort.

[plasticparadox]

One more endorsement for the full water treatment. I don't have a dishwasher, but I took my wired Apple keyboard into the shower and submerged it in the tub for a bit. Swished it all around.

It's kind of embarassing what happened to it; but I'll tell the story anyways as a warning. I spilled a bit of coke in my keyboard, just around the E/R/D/F area. It was only a few drops really, so I didn't worry about it. The next morning when I was checking my e-mail, I pressed the E key. Next thing I know, about 20 ants come swarming out of the keyboard. I scream like a little girl, grab the cockroach spray and thoroughly douse the keyboard in toxic chemicals. Ants are dead, so that's no problem. But I still have this concoction of coke, bug spray and dead ants stewing around in there. So that's where I just thought I may as well entrust my keyboard to the water gods.

It took about 3 days to fully dry. I just shook all the drops out first then leaned the board against the wall. I couldn't help myself and 'peeked' (plugged it in) on the 2nd day. I thought it was OK, until pressing certain keys would invoke strange combinations. Example; pressing G would make a row of //////////////// appear. So be patient! And trust me, the water thing works.

[California]

I'd just get an iSkin and not bother cleaning them. Ever. Tho I would clean the iSkin.

[TheMonarch]

WTF!!! KB+Dishwasher!? :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

What about all the USB connectors, and chips and all that electro-mumbo-jumbo... And does it work with PC KBs? :D

[bbowens]

Hi, I was an electronics manufacturing engineer for many years, and one of the first jobs I had involved circuit board assembly for an IBM sub-contractor. How did we clean the newly assembled and soldered boards? yep- we put them in a dishwasher (KitchenAid, if you must know).

So, cleaning a keyboard in the dishwasher is perfectly fine, but do give them time to dry, although it's a low power device, so there's no big danger if there's a little moisture.:D

I wouldn't do this with wireless, though, unless you know for sure that that part of the device is well sealed from moisture.

[Rizvi1]

Alright, I've read enough. My wired apple keyboard is going in the dishwasher this Wednesday night. I'm taking a trip for a few days to Chicago over the weekend so it should give it plenty of time to dry out by the time I return on Sunday. Maybe I'll leave a fan on low and keep it blowing for 3 days towards the keyboard to make sure all the water gets out.

[bossass]

I did the dishwasher to success with two usb keyboards. Anyone want try the BT though?

[macintologist]

so I shouldn't put my Apple Bluetooth Keyboard in the dishwasher, right? I think I'll remove all the keys and just clean the keys and the surface area of the keyboard, rather than submerge the whole thing.

[penter]

thank you all

:)

[grod]

Hi, I was an electronics manufacturing engineer for many years, and one of the first jobs I had involved circuit board assembly for an IBM sub-contractor. How did we clean the newly assembled and soldered boards? yep- we put them in a dishwasher (KitchenAid, if you must know).

So, cleaning a keyboard in the dishwasher is perfectly fine, but do give them time to dry, although it's a low power device, so there's no big danger if there's a little moisture.:D

I wouldn't do this with wireless, though, unless you know for sure that that part of the device is well sealed from moisture.

I got to say this is the post that convinced me
I cleaned my dirty-from-2years mac "white" keyboard last week with the more conservative technique of popping all the keys and washing them in a bowl with some soap, then q-tip the "body", let dry, etc etc - so I did, took me forever, but worked very well.
Then, yesterday, one week later, beer got spilled on it!! all over it!! so I decide to go for the dishwasher after I read this, I didnt have the patience to do the whole q-tip thing again. i put it in there after popping the keys where beer was spilled, left the others on the keyboard; wrapped lightly the cable around kb. light wash, no dry cycle, kb vey warm at the end tho, loose keys too but fine. I shook it and gave it a quick low dry from a hairdryer at a distance (I've done that before with wet electronics, like a sony vaio spilled with water - turned off, unplugged and no battery of course!). But I thought Id rather wait than risk frying it. So, I'm going on day 2 of drying, and so far almost all the keys work, I'd say, 70% work perfectly. I'll let you know the progress. I saw a video where a guy had his keyboard dried with a fan, gonna try that overnight, looks like its gonna be working tomorrow (fingers crossed);

[grod]

It works!! Perfectly! every key
space bar is a bit "touched", but Im guessing this is from popping it and putting it back again so many times... the important thing here is that I can tell you, dishwasher is safe for a mac keyboard (haven't tried the new slim macbook-like model though!)

[Rizvi1]

Nice! But I probably shouldn't do this for my Wireless Keyboard (M9270LL/A). I bought it recently from a friend to use with the Mac Mini 1.83ghz C2D that I purchased back in January off of Craigslist

[m.fuller]

i want to clean the surface of my wireless BT keyboard, what product could i use that wont remove the key lettering ? :o

[Rizvi1]

i want to clean the surface of my wireless BT keyboard, what product could i use that wont remove the key lettering ? :o

I'd like to know this too (btw, on a unrelated note, my batteries are low already on my keyboard - should I be manually turning this off when not in use?)

[TexasSue]

I.spilled.milk.into.my.keyboard..the.spacebar.doesn`t.work.now...

Is.it.doomed?..notice.I.use.the.period.(.)instead...but.it`s.a.pain!!

[Tallest Skil]

I.spilled.milk.into.my.keyboard..the.spacebar.doesn`t.work.now...

Is.it.doomed?..notice.I.use.the.period.(.)instead...but.it`s.a.pain!!

Apple doesn't cover water damage. Buy another keyboard or seal it in a huge bag of instant rice for three days.