Have You Cleaned Your Keyboard Lately?
Do It Yourself With These Easy Instructions!

Contributed by Elaine Landau

Dust. Germs. Crumbs. You can find all these offenders burrowing between the keys on your keyboard. If you share a keyboard with fellow students or coworkers, disinfecting your keyboard is vital to stopping the spread of germs or diseases. Aside from being a potential health threat, a dirty keyboard can stick and malfunction, rendering it useless.

Clearly, a good cleaning is the answer. So how do you get started?

Is it mechanical, membrane or Memorex®?
There are different kinds of keyboards that require different kinds of upkeep. Before cleaning anything, determine which kind of keyboard you have.

The easiest way to tell is to listen to your keyboard. If you make a loud clicking sound every time you press each key, chances are you have a mechanical keyboard. With a plastic membrane, keys are quieter. If you are unsure, consult your user manual, ask a member of your IT department, or look up your computer keyboard on the Internet.

If you lost the manual, have no IT department and you’ve never used the Internet, this is a golden opportunity to learn. With a background in basic computer education, basic Internet training is rather simple. You can learn at home. Start out with a free Internet lesson. You’ll soon discover that with free Internet training and free Internet tutorials; the Internet is a valuable resource. And, according to several sites, these are the most recognized tips and methods for cleaning your keyboard.

Quick and Easy Clean
If you don’t have a lot of time, but your keyboard needs help, give it a quick spit and polish. Supplies and tools you will need:
A can of compressed air.
A clean polish cloth.
New cotton swabs.
Vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment.
Dishwashing detergent.

Before starting anything, be sure you have turned off your computer and unplugged your keyboard. You will want to pick it up and shake it out to start your cleaning regiment. At this point you may want to tap a few keys to help loosen any debris between keys.

If weather permits, you may want to step outside to blow out the debris in your keyboard with compressed air. After you have directed the air between the keys and allowed the gook to be loosened up, you’ll shake out that keyboard again.

To be sure your keys are clean, you can rub each with a damp cloth soaked in diluted dishwashing detergent. That will clean the surface. Use cotton swabs to clean the sides of the keys.

Your last step is to use your brush attachment and vacuum the keyboard. That will ensure you have gotten those nasty bits of dirt out of their hiding places.

The Heavy Duty Clean
If you have a keyboard that is truly disgusting, you may need to spend more quality time when cleaning it up. Supplies and tools you will need:
A can of compressed air.
A clean polish cloth.
Vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment.
New cotton swabs.
A flat tip screwdriver to remove the keys for cleaning.
Alcohol. Not the rubbing kind, but the 90% isopropyl alcohol.

You are basically following the same steps as the quick spit and polish, but this time you will be removing the keys and taking more time. The first thing you must do is remember the position of the keys so after they are removed and cleaned, you are able to put them back in their correct positions. Also, try to avoid removing the larger keys such as the space bar or shift key. They are difficult to remove and can be break if you wrestle with them too much.

To remove each key with the screwdriver, gently pry upwards until the key pops free. If you are too impatient or rough, the key could break or crack. When the keys are removed, blast that compressed air to clean the inside of your keyboard. You might be shocked to see the gunk you are dislodging.

Take each key and clean it individually. Sounds time-consuming? It is. This process requires a lot of patience. Use a lint-free polish cloth dampened with diluted dishwashing liquid to clean each key.

Dry each key with a lint-free cloth. Before putting each one back into its original position, be sure the inside of your keyboard is as clean as possible. Place each key in its position and gently push down. When you hear a click, the key is properly reinstalled.

I can see myself!
Well, not exactly, but with both cleaning regiments, your keyboard will look and work much better.

And, if for some reason, you goof up and your keyboard sparkles but it doesn’t work, keyboards are pretty inexpensive. You can replace your gunky keyboard with a new one for as low as $15.

Gee, maybe that was the best route to go in the first place!

Memorex is a trademark of Memorex Products, Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries.

About the Author:
Elaine Landau is a freelance writer, publicist, web site editor, and television writer with more than 15 years of experience in marketing, advertising, and publicity.

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