Of all computer peripherals, the keyboard is subject to the greatest loads: every day it has to withstand up to ten thousand presses, which negatively affects not only the performance of the device, but also its appearance. Dust, food crumbs, hair and fur accumulate under the buttons and make the keys difficult to operate. The keys themselves also become sticky and untidy after prolonged use. To avoid this, the user must clean regularly. Read on to learn how to clean a mechanical keyboard at home.
How dirty is your keyboard?
Soap and water, to put it mildly, are not entirely suitable
for electronic devices, which is why we probably forget to clean them, or maybe it’s all about laziness.
According to
2012
study , a typical desk contains 400 times more bacteria than a toilet seat. Honestly, the toilet seat is one of the cleanest places in terms of the number of microorganisms.
Dr. Chuck Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, said there are a lot of things in our home that are much dirtier than the toilet seat.
A 2006 study conducted by researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital
, showed that two very dangerous and drug-resistant bacteria (Enterococcus faecium and Staphylococcus aureus) can survive on keyboards for up to 24 hours. In addition, there is such a dangerous bacterium as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can survive on the keyboard for an hour.
What to do?
Obviously, the first thing you need to do is wash your hands with soap before and after using the keyboard, which also applies to the laptop.
In
a study conducted in 2012, microbiologists analyzed university computers
and came to the conclusion that public computers, or rather keyboards and mice, must be disinfected at least once a week, and preferably every day.
What happens if you don't clean your keyboard?
Of course, a dirty keyboard will be of little use over time. In addition, scientists have found that the keyboard and mouse are almost the dirtiest household items; the keys become clogged with dust and food debris, and these are ideal conditions for the proliferation of all kinds of bacteria and microbes.
Therefore, you must remember that you need to clean your keyboard not only for its safety and good performance, but also for the sake of your own health!
The presence of a large amount of dust, dirt and pieces of food in the keyboard, and especially spilled liquid, contributes to its rapid failure. Moreover, if liquid is spilled on a connected keyboard, there is a high probability of a short circuit.
And from an aesthetic point of view, a dirty keyboard is very unpleasant. I still wonder how people can work or just sit at a computer with a dirty keyboard. Ever since the days when I was only involved in computer equipment repair, I cannot forget these pieces of dirt on the keyboards of some clients.
How to properly clean the keyboard on a computer?
General tips:
Experts from the National Center for Health Research advise keeping your keyboard clean every week, and here's how to do it:
1.1. Wash your hands before and after using the keyboard.
1.2. When your hands are dry, turn off the computer and unplug it.
1.3. Turn the keyboard over with the keys facing down and shake out any debris that may be hiding in the crevices between the keys.
1.4. If you have a can of compressed air, use it to get rid of solid debris.
1.5. Lightly dampen a cotton swab with water or isopropyl alcohol until it is slightly damp but not wet. Lubricate the spaces between the keys.
1.6. Dampen a lint-free cloth (again, slightly damp) and wipe the rest of the keyboard.
Important:
It is worth disassembling and cleaning the keyboard once every three months.
Pay special attention to the keys you use most often (Enter , Ctrl ,
Spacebar , Shift ) and clean them often.
Superficial cleaning
Once a month you need to carry out superficial cleaning.
It will get rid of dust and crumbs (applies to those who like to chew something tasty in front of the monitor). The Lifehacker Telegram channel contains only the best texts about technology, relationships, sports, cinema and much more. Subscribe!
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Turn the keyboard over and shake it a little. Some of the garbage will disappear at this stage.
Take a small brush or paintbrush and brush away any dust or crumbs stuck between the keys.
You can get rid of dust in hard-to-reach places using a special USB vacuum cleaner for the keyboard or cans of compressed air, which are sold in digital and household appliance stores (cleaning products department). An ordinary hairdryer will also work, but only if the keys fit tightly and there is no chance that debris will simply clog deeper.
You can only blow the keyboard with cold air.
To remove grease from the keys, go over them with a paper towel or microfiber.
When performing preventative cleaning, you should never use wet rags: no liquid should get inside the keyboard. Maximum - wet wipes for the computer.
What about cleaning laptop keys?
Try to pay special attention to the long keys - spacebar, Shift, Enter (in some models Backspace and CapsLock). As a rule, such keys are attached with a metal clip, which means removing them and then reattaching them will be a little more difficult.
Important:
If you are not sure that you can remove the keys, it is better not to touch them. Moreover, on some laptops these keys are made in such a way that they cannot be removed at all.
Before disassembling the keys, carefully inspect the mounting location. It is worth going carefully over the joints with a flannel cloth or a damp cloth.
To remove such keys, you need to use a thin knife blade, a file, or long nails.
* Slide the blade under the corner of the key and carefully move to the other corner. Be very careful as the parts are made of plastic and can break easily.
You can first remove and insert one key to better understand how the mechanism works.
Is it possible to wash the keyboard with plain water under the tap?
There is no definite answer to this question: some wash it and say that this does not affect the performance of the device in any way, while others categorically state that it is impossible to clean the periphery in this way, since there is a risk of water getting under the board.
The best option is to rinse only the keys under running water. To be more effective, you can add detergent to the water and go over each button with a brush. This way you can remove greasy deposits and sticky layers from the keys.
How to disassemble and reassemble the keyboard on a PC and laptop
To clean and remove germs from inside your laptop keyboard, you will have to open it. This is not that difficult to do, but any disassembly requires practice. Don't expect to get this job right the first time - to do it right, you'll have to sweat a little and carefully remove the keys.
To remove the button, simply gently pull it first by the top edge and then by the bottom edge. To do this, use tweezers or a thin screwdriver. Try not to break anything on the laptop keyboard, do not use too much force. To put everything back after wiping, carefully place the keys in their grooves.
It’s better not to disassemble the laptop at all. This applies to asus, samsung, acer, dexp, apple, any other. Its buttons are too easy to break, and non-separable models are becoming more common.
Take a photo of the keyboard before disassembling it to remember which buttons are located in which places.
Removing germs and “greasy plaque”
If your computer is located near the kitchen or you like to work while eating, then the keyboard buttons will become covered with greasy yellow spots. This dirt gets under the keys, creating a favorable environment for bacteria or mold to grow.
Clean your keyboard regularly
To remove this type of dirt, alcohol-based sprays or pure alcohol are used.
Advice! To clean the keyboard, use isopropyl alcohol, because ethyl alcohol can erase letters and numbers on the keys.
When using the spray, you should spray the keyboard with it, press it for 2-10 minutes, and then gently wipe it with a dry soft cloth. To clean with alcohol, use cotton swabs or napkins that are moistened in the product. Wipe the top of the keys with a moistened napkin, and hard-to-reach areas with a cotton swab. Do not pour alcohol on the keyboard to avoid damaging it.
How to clean a computer keyboard from spilled liquid?
In addition to contaminating the keyboard with food crumbs and greasy stains, there is a more serious problem - spilling warming sweet (tea, coffee) and alcoholic (beer, vodka, etc.) drinks on it. The best and safest method to avoid such incidents is, of course, separation of processes - do not eat or drink near the computer and especially the laptop. But this is not always possible. How to save a keyboard flooded with liquid?
- Immediately turn off the device.
- Turn over to allow the drink to drain out.
- Wipe off as much remaining moisture as possible with cotton pads or a soft cloth or napkin that does not leave any pieces.
- Additionally, dry the inside of the keyboard using a hairdryer set to cold air mode at maximum power.
- After making sure that it is completely dry, connect the device and test its operation.
In what cases is a general cleaning of the keyboard required?
Dirty buttons on the keyboard not only spoil the aesthetic appearance, but also interfere with the operation of the device. Therefore, the keyboard must be cleaned regularly.
Preventative measures will help increase service life and ensure proper operation. There are certain cases when cleaning becomes a must.
It is necessary to take action if:
- The keys become stuck and stick. They continue to remain in the pressing stage.
- The buttons do not respond to movement. To get the result you need to press the key several times.
- Buttons, the space between them is stained and dirty.
- When you press the keys, an unpleasant creak is heard.
- If you can see with the naked eye that there are a lot of crumbs, sticky dirt between the buttons, there are traces of liquid ingress.
You need to clean not only the outside, but also the inside of the device. The difficulty of holding the event is that any keyboard, both on a computer and on a laptop, must be completely disassembled. To avoid difficulties and not lead to damage, it is necessary to disassemble the device carefully and correctly.
It is important to know how to safely clean the contacts without damaging the fasteners. Any wrong movement will damage the keyboard!
Cleaning products
To clean the keyboard with your own hands, you need to stock up not only with time, but also with some tools and tools. What can you use to clean yourself?
- car vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, compressed air in a can;
- cotton buds;
- isopropyl alcohol;
- soft fabric;
- soap solution;
- special wipes for cleaning equipment;
- plastic product in the form of slime;
- screwdriver for disassembly.
Should you clean your keyboard?
Cleaning a computer yourself is not as simple a task as it might seem. It is completely impossible to do this quickly, so general dry cleaning is carried out hardly once every few years. But you can’t do this with an input device.
A clogged keyboard with something spilled on it sticks and can let you down at the most crucial moment while playing a game or writing an important report. Therefore, try to promptly clean any debris that appears and fix stuck buttons.
How often should you clean your laptop or PC keyboard?
First of all, you should understand that, despite the apparent simplicity of cleaning a computer keyboard, the cleaning procedure itself must be performed as carefully and carefully as possible.
Cleaning a laptop or PC keyboard is divided into two main types:
- 1. Deep cleaning.
- 2. Superficial cleaning.
A deep keyboard clean can remove all dirt and dust, both on the outside of the keys and underneath the keys. At the same time, surface cleaning can only remove dirt that is on the keys, and also, partially, between the keys.
It is recommended to superficially clean the keyboard once a month. The keyboard requires deep cleaning once a quarter.
It is recommended to perform two types of cleaning of your computer. If you carry out superficial cleaning from time to time, then deep cleaning may not be necessary.
Do I need to clean the device, general rules
Perhaps the main question about cleaning the keyboard is: can it be washed with water? The answer is no, you can't. This can ruin your device.
When cleaning, be sure to disconnect the device from the computer, and in the case of a laptop, disconnect the gadget from the network. Simple hygiene will extend the life of the device, so the cleaning procedure will not be superfluous.
There are times when simply brushing away crumbs will not be enough:
- The key cannot be pressed, or you have to press it several times and with force to type a character.
- Buttons stick, become stuck, or slowly return to their original position when pressed. At the same time, there is a strange stickiness under the button when pressed.
- If you look closely, there are traces of dirt and stains between the keys and on them. In particularly advanced cases, the naked eye can see that the space between the buttons is clogged with debris, and greasy marks glisten on their surface.
- Instead of a click, when pressed the key makes a strange sound, like a squeak.
Then you urgently need to wash the inside of the keyboard. For this purpose, do not use water in a basin or from the tap. Cleaning is carried out with rags, cotton swabs or the like, slightly moistened with alcohol or water.
Computer keyboard
Cleaning your computer keyboard is quite simple. Here are several methods for varying degrees of contamination:
- For light stains, use a hairdryer. Just blow all the crumbs and dust out with it.
- A vacuum cleaner can help remove excess dirt from your keyboard.
- Wipe a slightly dirty keyboard with a slightly damp soft cloth or special wipes for computers.
- If the keys are covered with greasy stains, prepare alcohol and cotton swabs. Wet the tool with the substance and carefully remove dirt from the keys. Be careful: some devices may cause letters to fade. First, test whether the lettering reacts to alcohol.
- Special Velcro tapes have become popular for cleaning up stains. The material allows you to reach hard-to-reach places, collects debris and is easily separated.
- If the keyboard is so catastrophically dirty that the buttons stick, the only solution will be to completely disassemble the device at home. Proceed with a rescue operation if you know for sure that you can put everything back in the same form. To be sure, take photographs of the arrangement of letters and symbols. The keyboard can be disassembled by unscrewing the screws and detaching the top part from the bottom. Be sure to remove the thin signal plate. Each button is attached to a latch, which must be carefully removed. All parts of the disassembled keyboard, except for the wires and contacts, can be washed.
Advice! Wash the disassembled keyboard with warm water and any detergent without corrosive components. Be sure to wait until the parts are completely dry, and only then proceed with assembly.
Keyboard cleaning products: gels and liquids
There are special keyboard cleaning products that are usually used for fragile laptops:
Velcro gel for cleaning the keyboard
- Velcro gel. This universal product is used to clean everything - calculators, keyboards, push-button phones or plant leaves. It is enough to roll the gel into a cake, stick it to the surface, and then quickly remove it. The gel also removes all debris and dust; the cost of the product is about 250 rubles. for 80 grams.
- Magic Power kits are used to clean keyboards, plasma panels, and telephones. The set includes wipes and spray that carefully clean everything. But the spray only copes with the top layer of dirt; it cannot penetrate under the keys to crumbs and spilled water. The cost of the product is about 500 rubles.
To prevent your keyboard from getting dirty, stick to the habit of snacking while working on your laptop or PC. If it’s difficult to get rid of bad habits, then stock up on a powerful hairdryer, alcohol, and Velcro gel, which can easily be used for emergency cleaning at any time. Practice a complete disassembly of the keyboard at least 1-2 times every six months to remove accumulated debris and dirty deposits from the keys.
