possible to clean macbook keyboard?

[marshmonkey]

I accidentally got some tazo green tea sprinkled on my keyboard, and now some of my keys stick down when pressed. Is there any way to take off the keys or get underneath the keyboad to clean the dang thing or are you just totally screwed if you ever get anything under your keys?

[joooollie]

At this point, I think you have two options. Green tea sounds like a "sticky" situation. (dont mind my puns.) I would try a can of compressed air or whatever, you can buy it at any staples, office store, or best buy sort of place. This probably wont work is my guess, but its worth a try. It wont cost you more than 7 or so bucks. The other option is to take it down to your nearest apple store, which i know often isnt so near, because mine is forty minutes away. Make an appointment with a mac genius ahead of time, you can do this on the apple website. Or you can just call the store and have them make the appointment for you. Talk to the genius and see what they say, they will probably be able to do something about it. I doubt you will be able to remove the keys safely, but if you want to try, stick a fingernail under the grey peice that covers the entire inner part of the laptop,pop that off and you may be able to access the keys. I would not recommend doing that until you have tried the air and the genius. Ask the genius if its possible to take off that peice.

[ormandj]

At this point, I think you have two options. Green tea sounds like a "sticky" situation. (dont mind my puns.) I would try a can of compressed air or whatever, you can buy it at any staples, office store, or best buy sort of place. This probably wont work is my guess, but its worth a try. It wont cost you more than 7 or so bucks. The other option is to take it down to your nearest apple store, which i know often isnt so near, because mine is forty minutes away. Make an appointment with a mac genius ahead of time, you can do this on the apple website. Or you can just call the store and have them make the appointment for you. Talk to the genius and see what they say, they will probably be able to do something about it. I doubt you will be able to remove the keys safely, but if you want to try, stick a fingernail under the grey peice that covers the entire inner part of the laptop,pop that off and you may be able to access the keys. I would not recommend doing that until you have tried the air and the genius. Ask the genius if its possible to take off that peice.

FOR YOUR SAKE - DO NOT TAKE YOUR COMPUTER IN.

Once you do, it will be documented in your account that you have spill damage, and all warranty coverage they can possibly blame on a "spill" will NOT be covered at any point in the future, AppleCare or not!

You need to figure out how to take it apart and get access to clean the keys. The only issue would be if it's a part of the upper casing. I've never seen an article on doing it, and I'm not sure one exists. I no longer work for Apple so don't have access to internal documents - my apologies.

Lesson to be learned (and I hope *everyone* learns from this) - it's really dumb to mess around with liquids next to a $1k+ computer. Take the 5 seconds to put the glass a bit away and get up to drink from it. Either that, or take the risk of such a situation.

Compressed air won't work, either. It's the resin from the tea leaves almost assuredly, and that stuff is hard to get off. Your only real chance is getting the thing apart, good luck.

David

[joooollie]

FOR YOUR SAKE - DO NOT TAKE YOUR COMPUTER IN.

Once you do, it will be documented in your account that you have spill damage, and all warranty coverage they can possibly blame on a "spill" will NOT be covered at any point in the future, AppleCare or not!

You need to figure out how to take it apart and get access to clean the keys. The only issue would be if it's a part of the upper casing. I've never seen an article on doing it, and I'm not sure one exists. I no longer work for Apple so don't have access to internal documents - my apologies.

Lesson to be learned (and I hope *everyone* learns from this) - it's really dumb to mess around with liquids next to a $1k+ computer. Take the 5 seconds to put the glass a bit away and get up to drink from it. Either that, or take the risk of such a situation.

Compressed air won't work, either. It's the resin from the tea leaves almost assuredly, and that stuff is hard to get off. Your only real chance is getting the thing apart, good luck.

David
David is one hundred percent correct. my bad. Although compressed air wont take the sticky off, it may remove some dried residue. not likely. another thing you can do is go into the store, dont make an appointment, and just ask one of the sales people how to clean out under the keyboard if the compressed air isnt doing the trick. Just ask them if there is a way to get in there. let me try and elaborate on what i meant about taking the laptop apart. Thinking back, it probably isnt intensely risky. Do it at your own risk. I would be too nervous to do it, but it depends on the person and the amount of money you have available to you, whether it be your own or your parents. If you are going to attempt to take a peice off to get inside there, i recommend starting from the back. Take a thin putty knife, or something you can gently wedge in to pry open the mac. now sit facing the screen, and look at the macbook logo at the bottom under the screen. now i recommend trying to pry off the grey faceplate, so to speak, starting from back there, as it seems it would be easier. be very careful. If you DO do this and something goes wrong, and you cant get that grey peice of casing to stick back on, you can bring it in and say it loosened and popped off. first try to clean out the tea though, because if they see the the residue, they may put two and two together.

[ITASOR]

Go to an Apple reseller instead of an Apple store and see if they can help you take the sticking keys off, then you should be able to clean them and pop them back on yourself. With the Apple resellers, most of the time they won't record anything, as its usually a really simple task for them.

[marshmonkey]

while i was taking in my macbook (for the second time) for randomly shutting down (and a broken ram lever) i asked if there was any way to get under the keyboard and he said that there really wasn't that he knew of. I was hoping someone would have had the same experience and would have some advice. Compressed air wont work since the problem is actually some congealed sugar type solid substance that the tea turns into after drying. Too bad I wasn't drinking something sugar free : (

I wish I knew more about how the keys are attached to the bottom of the keyboard so I could know more about if prying off keys and re-attaching them is an option.

[ormandj]

while i was taking in my macbook (for the second time) for randomly shutting down (and a broken ram lever) i asked if there was any way to get under the keyboard and he said that there really wasn't that he knew of. I was hoping someone would have had the same experience and would have some advice. Compressed air wont work since the problem is actually some congealed sugar type solid substance that the tea turns into after drying. Too bad I wasn't drinking something sugar free : (

I wish I knew more about how the keys are attached to the bottom of the keyboard so I could know more about if prying off keys and re-attaching them is an option.

You can pay me later. ;) (Hope this helps...the keyboard is part of the upper case, you'll have to buy a replacement. Sorry.)

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/86.1.0.html

[marshmonkey]

so that means I would have to dis-assemble to this point and replace this enire part the guy is holding up here? http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/86/images_thumb/15.jpg

thats pretty extreme :(

[ormandj]

so that means I would have to dis-assemble to this point and replace this enire part the guy is holding up here? http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/86/images_thumb/15.jpg

thats pretty extreme :(

Yes, unless you figured out how to take the upper casing apart even further.

It is "extreme" to replace the entire upper casing of the notebook, but it's also pretty "extreme" to spill liquid into an electronic device that cost over a grand. ;)

[marshmonkey]

yea, yea, i know. I'm so tied to my desk during work though that I can't really afford to step away to a different location every time I need to take a drink. I still wonder if those keys are re-attachable though becuase popping a few off and scrubbing off the sticky stuff and popping them back on sure would beat stripping down my macbook and replacing the entire front of it.

[joooollie]

Taking your comp to a mac reseller might not be a great idea, because many are teens and younger adults who dont really know what they are talking about. Some of them do, some dont. again, computer stores almost always specialize in PCs and dont know much about macs. i have never seen a mac at best buy, or circuit city.

[joooollie]

It is "extreme" to replace the entire upper casing of the notebook, but it's also pretty "extreme" to spill liquid into an electronic device that cost over a grand. ;)[/QUOTE]

i think even if you take it apart, from the looks of those pictures, it doesnt give you more access to the keyboard than you have already. if you call apple support and tell them your comp has been freezing, they will have you send it in and while they examine it its likely they will fix your tea problem. Another question.
Exactly how bad is the stickyness. Is it unbearable, or can you deal with it.

[generik]

Too bad I wasn't drinking something sugar free : (


What nonsense is this? Green tea is sugar free! I should know, I drink it every day!

[ormandj]

What nonsense is this? Green tea is sugar free! I should know, I drink it every day!

He's talking about the resin. It's not sugar, but acts much like a spilled soda would due to sugar. :) (I drink green tea too...)

[marshmonkey]

It's pretty annoying so I would like to fix it if possible, but I don't know if it's worth replacing the front. On some keys instead of "clicking" it will stay depressed and then slowly rise back up. Some keys require me to press down extra hard in order to get a register. It's only about 3 or 4 keys but it's pretty annoying. I wish they would have considered keyboard spillage when they designed the thing, you would think that would be one of the most common ailments to happen to any laptop. How great would it be if you could just pop off the keys and take a sponge to it.

my book is just getting shipped back from repair now, and there was some issue that they thought might not be covered under warantee or applecare which they wanted me to call in about (although when I did they had no clue what I was talking about and it seemed to have been repaired anyway) so maybe they were wondering about the keyboard too after they tried to type on it and ended up replacing it. I'll keep my fingers crossed for that since the least they could do is replace my sticky keyboard after having to ship it off twice for shutdown issues.

[marshmonkey]

He's talking about the resin. It's not sugar, but acts much like a spilled soda would due to sugar. :) (I drink green tea too...)

yea, probably that. It's kind of a funny story actually, I like to shake up my bottle of green tea before I take a drink, and I usually have the cap on to prevent these kinds of accidents. I have tons of other electronics at my desk (powermac G5, desktop pc, 3 monitors one of which is a 30 incher) and when I went to shake up my tea I realized pretty fast I had forgotten to put the cap back on. Tea literally RAINED all over my office and I'm glad the only thing that seemed to be affected is my macbook. The first thing I did was run my macbook over to the kitchen and go over it with a damp paper towel but I guess I wasn't quick enough. My powermac keyboard is sticky too but it's no big deal to replace that.

[ormandj]

It's pretty annoying so I would like to fix it if possible, but I don't know if it's worth replacing the front. On some keys instead of "clicking" it will stay depressed and then slowly rise back up. Some keys require me to press down extra hard in order to get a register. It's only about 3 or 4 keys but it's pretty annoying. I wish they would have considered keyboard spillage when they designed the thing, you would think that would be one of the most common ailments to happen to any laptop. How great would it be if you could just pop off the keys and take a sponge to it.

my book is just getting shipped back from repair now, and there was some issue that they thought might not be covered under warantee or applecare which they wanted me to call in about (although when I did they had no clue what I was talking about and it seemed to have been repaired anyway) so maybe they were wondering about the keyboard too after they tried to type on it and ended up replacing it. I'll keep my fingers crossed for that since the least they could do is replace my sticky keyboard after having to ship it off twice for shutdown issues.

If you sent it in for repair, and they noticed the spill, your warranty coverage will be void for anything that could have possibly been affected. You may have gotten lucky, they repaired things, and forgot to mention the spill in the report. You better hope so. ;)

[marshmonkey]

well I know they didn't mention a spill in the report becuase the genious had me look over the repair sheet notes to make sure everything was accurate. It maybe they noticed the sticky keyboard while at the repair facility and wanted to ask me about it but it seems like they repaired it anyway. If they did replace my keyboard they can't charge me for it if they never got in contact with me about any additional charges.

[joooollie]

If you are typing reports on airplanes this wont help you, but at a desk, it will. Buy a wireless keyboard or something for your laptop.

[marshmonkey]

If you are typing reports on airplanes this wont help you, but at a desk, it will. Buy a wireless keyboard or something for your laptop.

I mostly use my macbook on the couch or just for music at work so I dont really do enough hardcore typing on it to justify an external keyboard setup. plus I love the feel of the macbook keyboard (when it's not sticky)

[joooollie]

one, you can get a portable laptop station desk that slides easily for about 20 dollars, and it sits on two columns and is a good few inches off your lap and you can slide it up so it is in front of you on the couch. other option, sell laptop on ebay and buy a new one. You could do this one of two ways. you could go the honest route and say a few keys are a bit sticky, or you could just not mention it. im not saying either is better, just advocating all the possibilities

[ChickenSwartz]

I was looking around ebay, right after I read this post, for a good deal on a black MacBook and I came accross this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Top-Case-Trackpad-Keyboard-for-MacBook-Black-Xlnt_W0QQitemZ330035609758QQihZ014QQcategoryZ140064QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330035609758

$79 not bad

Just an option incase it can't be celaned or is expensive.

[marshmonkey]

I was looking around ebay, right after I read this post, for a good deal on a black MacBook and I came accross this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Top-Case-Trackpad-Keyboard-for-MacBook-Black-Xlnt_W0QQitemZ330035609758QQihZ014QQcategoryZ140064QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330035609758

$79 not bad

Just an option incase it can't be celaned or is expensive.

wow, thats a pretty good deal - thanks for the link!

[joooollie]

Pack your blackbookbaby up and send it to apple. they basically do a full body scan so to speak. they will probably clean the keys when they find something else wrong as well.

[drake]

I was looking around ebay, right after I read this post, for a good deal on a black MacBook and I came accross this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Top-Case-Trackpad-Keyboard-for-MacBook-Black-Xlnt_W0QQitemZ330035609758QQihZ014QQcategoryZ140064QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330035609758

$79 not bad

Just an option incase it can't be celaned or is expensive.

I was going to suggest eBay. Anyway, if I were to try taking a Macbook apart, I'd definitely setup a video camera to record my every move so that I can refer back to it when it comes to putting it all back together. I also heard that you can try soaking electronics in distilled water go get nasty sticking things out (and let it throughly dry). Do at own risk, of course. Once many years ago I dropped a full sized standalone CD player into an aquarium. Let it dry and worked fine after.

[marshmonkey]

I should be getting my macbook back tomorrow or the next day so I will be sure to post an update on wether they fixed the keyboard too

[PeterC.]

What you can do is buy a can of denatured alcohol at Home Depot, pour it in tupperware container big enough for the upper case and let it soak for a few hours. Check to see if the keys are still stuck, if not soak again. Let it dry outside in the sun all day, bring it in and let it dry some more overnight to be safe then reinstall it.

I did this with my apple keyboard when someone spilled coffee on it. It worked fine for me.:D

[ormandj]

What you can do is buy a can of denatured alcohol at Home Depot, pour it in tupperware container big enough for the upper case and let it soak for a few hours. Check to see if the keys are still stuck, if not soak again. Let it dry outside in the sun all day, bring it in and let it dry some more overnight to be safe then reinstall it.

I did this with my apple keyboard when someone spilled coffee on it. It worked fine for me.:D

That's actually a pretty good idea, and might just work. :) The alcohol should evaporate really quickly, especially out in the sun and won't leave any deposits. Smart person, you are!

[marshmonkey]

ok, I'm posting back on my blackbook and while they replaced a ton of stuff to try and fix my random shutdowns, they didn't replace the keyboard. It feels like they might have cleaned it a little or maybe I am just imagining things though becuase it dosent feel as sticky as it was. Maybe they tried to clean it off a little or something while they had it apart. I'm going to keep on breaking it back in and if if starts feeling bad enough I might try the denatured alcholol idea but right now I'm just happy to have my baby back.

[AnthonyK]

Uhhh...? Just pry off the keys and use a damp q-tip to wipe up the residue and use the dry end to wipe away the excess water. Then soak the keys in water and the pieces of white plastic that connect the keys to the actual keyboard and dry them off then put the keys back in. This happend to me I spilled ice tea on my keyboard. Just pried up the keys and cleaned it out and now its fine. Just stick your nail under the key and pry up just be careful. :D

[marshmonkey]

Uhhh...? Just pry off the keys and use a damp q-tip to wipe up the residue and use the dry end to wipe away the excess water. Then soak the keys in water and the pieces of white plastic that connect the keys to the actual keyboard and dry them off then put the keys back in. This happend to me I spilled ice tea on my keyboard. Just pried up the keys and cleaned it out and now its fine. Just stick your nail under the key and pry up just be careful. :D

so you had no trouble re-attaching the keys? they come on and off no problem? I am worried about taking off a key and not being able to get it back on.

[Pr0jkt]

***please read***

my daughter knocked over a glass of grape juice in my keyboard, after letting it fan dry (and soaking as much as i could up with paper towls) I went and bought "THE LENSE PEN" http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Lens-Pen-Cleaning-System/dp/B00006JN3G

this thing works wonders and saved me about 500-1000 dollars worth of service though apple/applecare. :) :)

[AnthonyK]

No not at all they go back on no problem. Just be careful prying them off just go really slow you hear a clicking noise once it starts to come up. Once you get it off youll see how it works. I'm suprised no one knew you could pull up the keys :confused:

[generik]

What you can do is buy a can of denatured alcohol at Home Depot, pour it in tupperware container big enough for the upper case and let it soak for a few hours. Check to see if the keys are still stuck, if not soak again. Let it dry outside in the sun all day, bring it in and let it dry some more overnight to be safe then reinstall it.

I did this with my apple keyboard when someone spilled coffee on it. It worked fine for me.:D

Wouldn't the alcohol react adversely to the shiny plastics used in Apple products? Some plastics do melt when in contact with certain alcohols you know...

[puckyrulz3]

okay, so heres my story:

i was eating a juicy tangerine on my bed while browsing the net.. and then all of sudden, when i went to take a part a piece of the tangerine from the others, a wave of juice droplets hit my beautiful white macbook keyboard. i clean as much off as i could, but about five mintues later when a friend messaged me, i realized my "M" key was sticky! *gasp*

so i attempted to take alcohol swabs (surgical type in those little packets) and stuff them under and wipe it around, but that didn't seem to help. i wanted to take the key off.. but i was too scared! then i read the guy's post saying its okay, and that he's done it before, so i attempted!

IT WORKED. there was a huge (okay, big enough to construct the key from working properly) chunk of pulp stuck to the top (under part) of the key. i got it off...and now i'm happily typing my MMMMMMM's!

okay. so how you do it. i'd start with the part of hte key that is closest to you (further away from the screen) and slowly lift that up. you'll hear a clicking sound - the 'bottom' half of it will be up. i didn't take the rest of it off, because of how scared i still was, but that was more than enough to clean up properly. then, after cleaning with a ear swab thing (soaked with probably alcohol) just click it back down.

and Wah-lah!

=)

i was just so excited i didn't ruin this thing i had to post straight away! YEY!

[aZooZa]

Uhhh...? Just pry off the keys and use a damp q-tip to wipe up the residue and use the dry end to wipe away the excess water. Then soak the keys in water and the pieces of white plastic that connect the keys to the actual keyboard and dry them off then put the keys back in. This happend to me I spilled ice tea on my keyboard. Just pried up the keys and cleaned it out and now its fine. Just stick your nail under the key and pry up just be careful. :D
You are talking about a Macbook keyboard I presume? I thought I'd read that the actual contact mechanism (the electronic part where the keypress is registered) is actually inaccessible and is situated in a film "sandwich". Are you saying that the Macbook key contact point is visible and cleanable after taking off a key?

Thanks!

[dj420118]

I had a similar spill with the new iMac "macbook like" keyboard. The keys still work but they are just a little stickier than before. Unlike the macbook i dont think i have a way to get under there...just have to live with it.:p

[varnava]

The zero key on my MacBook only works some days. I don't think I spilled anything on it, but decided to try to clean it anyway.

After reading http://www.annelyle.com/blog/2007/05/key_cap_shuffle.html indeed, the easiest way is to pry on the top left corner. The keys just pop off. Under this is the plastic scissor lift. In the center is a plastic nipple.

The plastic scissor lift was a little tricky to come off. I pushed it forward and then pried on the top right. It came out of it's metal clip and the rest followed. This left the plastic nipple.

The plastic nipple appeared to be glued on. I pried it off anyway. Underneath it is a plastic sheet. Under the plastic sheet are the actual contact points.

It did not appear dirty. I couldn't access the contact points anyway because the plastic of the top of the macbook prevents removal of the plastic sheet. So if your keys are not working taking them off does not appear to be an option.

However if your keys are just sticky it appears you can take them off without a problem.

I took off a couple keys for reference and they all work fine now. The zero key still doesn't work though. :(

[CF1106]

I pulled my keys off from the top left corner, cleaned them, and clicked them back on, and all works well. Don't be scared, just don't be too rough.

[MowingDevil]

You could do this one of two ways. you could go the honest route and say a few keys are a bit sticky, or you could just not mention it. im not saying either is better, just advocating all the possibilities

Why even advocate such a thing? Another reason I'll NEVER buy off eBay.
Shouldn't you always go the honest route? I must say I'm a bit shocked at all the suggetions of scamming I'm hearing on this board. We all allegedly LOVE Apple & their products...yet its perfectly ok to scam them on warranties, returns & promotional deals?!? I'm no saint myself...and scamming IBM or Microsoft is one thing but c'mon, Apple??? :apple:

[MowingDevil]

okay, so heres my story:

i was eating a juicy tangerine on my bed while browsing the net.. and then all of sudden, when i went to take a part a piece of the tangerine from the others, a wave of juice droplets hit my beautiful white macbook keyboard. i clean as much off as i could, but about five mintues later when a friend messaged me, i realized my "M" key was sticky! *gasp*

so i attempted to take alcohol swabs (surgical type in those little packets) and stuff them under and wipe it around, but that didn't seem to help. i wanted to take the key off.. but i was too scared! then i read the guy's post saying its okay, and that he's done it before, so i attempted!

IT WORKED. there was a huge (okay, big enough to construct the key from working properly) chunk of pulp stuck to the top (under part) of the key. i got it off...and now i'm happily typing my MMMMMMM's!

okay. so how you do it. i'd start with the part of hte key that is closest to you (further away from the screen) and slowly lift that up. you'll hear a clicking sound - the 'bottom' half of it will be up. i didn't take the rest of it off, because of how scared i still was, but that was more than enough to clean up properly. then, after cleaning with a ear swab thing (soaked with probably alcohol) just click it back down.

and Wah-lah!

=)

i was just so excited i didn't ruin this thing i had to post straight away! YEY!

WOW, I'm really glad this thread got revived. I used to be religious about not eating or drinking on or around my Mac...but must admit I def relaxed over the yrs in this dept. After reading this thread I've had the bajeezus scared out of me w/ the amount of money I've dropped on upgrading all my comp stuff lately. Thats it, no more tea or tangerines in front of the computer esp the laptop! I got lazy eating spaghetti in from of a white iMac and had a hell of a time cleaning tomato sauce drops off the white keys. There's officially a no food or drink rule around my computers once again!

[IGHOR]

This may help you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSpPlMdGvVI
This is video how to clean keys

[Gsagula]

Just read attention... I suggest to use a plastic knife ;-)

http://nonverbla.de/blog/2006/11/12/how-to-clean-your-macbook-pro-keyboard/

:)

[rippinblaise]

i just took off and back on my 9 key because when i pressed it it always stuck or felt weird and it worked

[kgeier82]

229$-nonbacklit
299$- Backlit

Either way, may be worth it just to replace the keyboard from ifixit. If you take it to apple, Id consider your laptops warranty void, and they will just charge you probably the same.