Personally, i'm a messy person at the computer, i eat and drink at the desk, my cat climbs all over my desk, so my keyboard had cat hair, and food, icecream, drink all spilled in the keys and in the grooves.

I was reading one of my local tech magazines about cleaning the keyboard, so i decided to take it upon myself. I took it apart (Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard) and if it got ruined i would have my neighbor pick up a new one from his work.

Well, i took out all the screws and i took the top off, left the rubber and "motherboard" alone (Heard not to touch the "motherboard" took it into my bathroom, filled the water up 5 inch and poured some body wash on it, shoot it up and down in the tub, dried it went out for a bit, came back and it was dry, put it back together and it's brand new.

Now, the question, are you messy at the keyboard? Do you just buy a new one, or do you clean it, i actually cleaned my old HP one by popping off each key then cleaning and air blowing inside, this way was much easier.

wow... taking off each key?

i would personally just buy another one... they don't cost that much anyway

I vacuumed mine the other day. Usually I keep mine covered so that don't get very dirty.

Sounds like my cleaning method, except that I pluck all my keys out, wash em, and re-lube them before putting them back in. Graphite powder works nicely.

Anyways, I generally keep my keyobard "clean" and I clean it out about every 6 months. I've only been through 3 keyboards due to getting a new one with new computers. :)

To answer the question, I try to keep my mess away from my keyobards, but sometimes stuff happens and crap ends up in the keyboard... Oh well.

I have yet to clean my keyboard since the day I first used it. It isn't that dirty and I'm surpised. I never cover it at all, but I rarely eat by the computer and I don't have animals that will crawl around on my desk since they're outside or some other part of the house.

Yes,PLEASE make sure to dry out the keyboard TOTALLY before applying power again!! (You'll have a worthless piece of hardware otherwise)

The Dude :)

hmm, $10 for a new keyboard at the computer store, or $3 for a used one, so I generally do not clean it. Well sometimes I will wipe down the keys, my son sure can make a mess at times. Well so can I!

Not as often as I should, but it's difficult with laptops at times.

Regards,
Waylon

I clean it when I get a chance.

nope, never, my keys are turned to brown from white :eek3:

ive never cleaned mine
its got bits of food,cig ash, hair,dust, tobacco stuck between alot of the keys thats probably why my arrow keys dont work :eek:

my keyboard are so cheap they are not worth to be clean.. :D...

What you need is a virtual keyboard. you NEVER have to clean it. You can tip boiling water on it and it won't effect it. You can smash it with a sledge hammer and it won't effect it. It is absolutely unbreakable.

Why is it unbreakable you ask.. because it is just an image. an image is projected on to your desk, table wall or anywhere you want and you press the projected image .. a little bit like a touch screen... marvelous invention.

Doc

Originally posted by TheDoctor
What you need is a virtual keyboard. you NEVER have to clean it. You can tip boiling water on it and it won't effect it. You can smash it with a sledge hammer and it won't effect it. It is absolutely unbreakable.

Why is it unbreakable you ask.. because it is just an image. an image is projected on to your desk, table wall or anywhere you want and you press the projected image .. a little bit like a touch screen... marvelous invention.

Doc

you would break your desk lol

I just buy a new one from eBay.

I clean mine periodically, but hadn't for months. This thread reminded me. Nothing like blowing it out with a can of air, wiping it down with all-purpose cleaner, using a swab between the keys, then removing the back and blowing all those crubs and sesame seeds out of it!

I cleaned my mouse as well.

Now the keyboard looks like brand new and is super responsive again. Man, as someone who keyboards all day long every day, I love the feel of a spanking-clean keyboard...

Whenever I take a bubble bath I just take my keyboard in there and lather it up with me.

Mine gets dirty enough to need cleaning once or twice a year. I'm not really a very messy person but it happens. A few months ago I took the whole thing apart, stuck all the keys in a duffle bag meant for washing cake decorating tips, and put everything that couldn't be detroyed by water in the dishwasher. I have a wireless keyboard so it has all the internals that couldn't be washed, of course, so I stuck all the plastic pieces in there and they came out sparkling clean. Put it back together and it's good as new.

It's not worth it for me to spend $40 on a new keyboard (cost of this one) when I can wash it for free. It's like 10 minutes of actual work (unscrewing and removing keys) and then a little bit of time in the dishwasher wherein I get to play video games. Plus, I'm use the feel of it and I like it. Every keyboard is different and I don't like change :)

I would wipe down the keys every so often. Though I still have some food stains on certain characters, so I know I don't clean it enough.

However, is0lized, you have inspired me to do a thorough clean of my keyboard. I will probably try it this weekend. :)

Originally posted by stingerweb
ive never cleaned mine
its got bits of food,cig ash, hair,dust, tobacco stuck between alot of the keys thats probably why my arrow keys dont work :eek:

I just bang mine on the desk a couple of times to knock all that crap out:

Originally posted by Frosty
Whenever I take a bubble bath I just take my keyboard in there and lather it up with me.

Um ok….. *blink* *blink*


keyboards are disposable. When I buy keyboard’s I always get a spare. Well that and I tend to get mad and break them. However, I would still rather punch my keyboard than my monitor. I have one of the Virtually Indestructible Keyboard (http://www.grandtec.com/vik.htm) but I just do not like the way it feel’s I need my click response.

Guess I"m the only one that uses a molded keyboard cover? I've had the same keyboard since 1998, with the same cover on it. Also using an optical mouse, so no cleaning there either.

I too will wipe off the keys every so often, but worse comes to worse (big soda/food spill) I'll just buy a new one. And since I work at an ISP/Computer shop, I get parts at cost, and I can replace my keyboard cheaply. Last time I got a new keyboard it was $7 + Tax. Or, I could of spent 30+ min cleaning my old one.