How to clean a keyboard

[ffutures]

A few days ago someone I know wanted to get rid of a keyboard because something smelly had been spilled in it. I suggested a way of cleaning it, which may not sound very safe but actually works pretty well; wash it in a dish washer, shake it out thoroughly, and give it a couple of days to dry afterwards. This gets rid of all the crud, and the water dries leaving the keyboard working.

Using a dishwasher is pretty safe because the water is deionised and doesn't contain much in the way of impurities. What if your keyboard is too big to fit..?

Well, I've got a small dish washer and a big keyboard which I love - an original IBM AT model. It has a lovely clunky feeling that you just don't get with modern keyboards, and my typing speed with it is about twice what it is with the flimsy piece of shit that came with this PC. But I'm also balding and have a beard, which means I shed a lot of hair, and tend to eat while I'm working occasionally. The result after several years of never actually getting round to cleaning it was that my keyboard was FILTHY - you could barely see the plastic, and it was full of hair.

So yesterday I plugged in the flimsy piece of shit and took my fine vintage keyboard to the bathroom, where I leaned it on its end and gave it a hot shower and scrub with a scrubbing brush and washing up liquid. Got rid of tons of hair and other less identifiable crap, gave it a good shake, three or four times, to get rid of the water, and left it to dry in the warmest part of the flat. And of course...


...I just plugged it back in and it works perfectly! Bwah hah hah hah hah!

The moral is that sometimes things work the way they're supposed to. Not very exciting I know, but reasonably good news, and possibly helpful to someone else with a mucky keyboard.

Comments

[ludditerobot.livejournal.com]

You mean the old-style clicky keyboards that drive anyone else in the room insane after a few sentences? I love those. A friend, a grad student, says he keeps one in his office because, if an angry student comes to office hours with a gun, he can 1) deflect the bullet with the keyboard, 2) use it to beat him to submission, and 3) tie him up with the extra-long cord.

I have two that need that treatment. At least.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*nods*
I cried when I finally had to get rid of my IBM AT keyboard at work because the space bar was utterly broken. I love clickety keyboards as well, they have just the right resistance and aren't dampened.
The logitech one I'm using now at work is OK, though.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I've got this, which is indeed the clicky type, and another one which I think doesn't work but might one day be useful for spares. They do turn up 2nd hand occasionally, if I see any around I'll pick them up.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Just realised something; These old keyboards have detachable cables because there was a choice of AT or PS/2 style - I just realised I never tried the "non working" keyboard with a known working cable, and it turns out that it works perfectly - it's just the cable that's defunct. So if I can make up another cable I'll have two good old clicky keyboards, one for each of my PCs. Yay!

[ludditerobot.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[sirernest.livejournal.com]

didn't the old IBM keyboards have draining holes in the bottom too, for quick and easy return of spilled coffee to the cup? ;)

[ci5rod.livejournal.com]

I thought that was the old BBC model Bs?

[ckd]

The Apple //c had a rubber sheet under the keyboard, so that spilled liquids would happily pour themselves onto your lap through the front vents.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

There's a grid covering (I think) some sort of speaker.