Keychron K4 with keycaps eliminated
Jason Perlow/ZDNET
Your keyboard is an important device for pc use — and, apparently, a veritable landfill for crumbs, mud, and who-knows-what-else. We lovingly clear our mouse balls (keep in mind these?), polish our optical sensors, and wipe our screens till they gleam. However how many people deep-clean our keyboards? When was the final time you even thought of it?
I am ashamed to confess that I by no means do. As an alternative of cleansing them, I have been tossing out keyboards each few years and shopping for new ones. However as a author, I splurge on high-quality ones, just like the Keychron K4, which I bought for over $100 in 2019. It is wi-fi, with mechanical Cherry MX keys, Bluetooth, backlighting — the entire shebang. I like their keyboards as a result of they’ll customise to your preferences right down to the element degree and use open supply logic of their microcontrollers, making them simple to replace.
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The one downside? It bought actually soiled. So, for the primary time, I made a decision to scrub my keyboard. How dangerous may or not it’s, proper?
Dangerous. Think about 5 years of collected meals matter and gooey dried beverage residue. The stuff you see with the keycaps on is simply the tip of the iceberg; after they come off, it is a greatest-hits assortment of all of your breakfasts, lunches, late-night snacks, espresso spills, and Food regimen Coke disasters.
Here is easy methods to clear your keyboard and hold it clear for the long run. Do not forget that not all keyboards, resembling membrane-style items, have detachable keycaps, however most mechanical keyboards do.
Begin by eradicating your keys. However earlier than you’re taking them off, take an image of the keyboard so you realize the place all of them go when you must put them again.
You possibly can simply pop the keycaps off with a flathead screwdriver or a butter knife.
Put the keycaps in an enormous bowl of heat water with some gentle dish detergent to take away oils and any caked-on residue. I used the bowl from a salad spinner to allow them to soak for a number of minutes, agitated them just a few instances, after which washed the soapy residue off.
I like to recommend utilizing a salad spinner since it will make the subsequent step a lot simpler.
Keycaps off and within the spinner bowl.
Jason Perlow/ZDNET
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The salad spinner is a really efficient technique to take away all the surplus water from the keys. I needed to run it about 4 instances to take away the residual moisture, guaranteeing they have been fully dry earlier than reassembling.
Return to the keyboard itself. Use rubbing alcohol and cotton-tipped swabs to take away filth and dirt from the crevices, significantly between the important thing mechanisms and edges.
Then look at every keycap for something not caught through the salad spinner rinse, and use swabs and tissues to take away something persistent.
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An auto-detailing equipment can assist vacuum out the tight spots on a keyboard. These kits typically include small brushes and attachments good for reaching these troublesome areas.
This vacuum tip with a brush helped get all of the corners and spacing between the keys with hard-to-remove mud and particles, making the cleansing course of rather more environment friendly.
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Now that every one your elements look brand-new, it is time to put the keycaps again on. Confer with the photograph you took earlier to make sure every keycap returns in its right place.
Keys changed on Keychron K4
Jason Perlow/ZDNET
The transformation is exceptional — the keyboard seems virtually model new after an intensive cleansing. Regardless that I’ve worn off a number of the letters, it now seems contemporary and capabilities completely, proving that just a little effort in upkeep can lengthen the lifetime of your keyboard considerably.
If you wish to keep away from having to do that once more, think about not consuming or consuming at your desk (as unrealistic as that will sound).
