Speaker 1: Yesterday. I poured soda on this keyboard and left it out to dry overnight to get it nice and sticky. And today I'm gonna show you how to clean a sticky keyboard. Ordinarily, if you had a spill like this on your keyboard, you'd want to clean up the mess right away before you do anything, unplug the keyboard from your computer, or turn the power off next, turn it over and shake out as much of the liquid as you can to keep it from seeping any further inside, then take a cloth and wipe up any remaining liquid you can get to. You might wanna repeat the shake and wipe cycle a couple of times, or until nothing else [00:00:30] is coming out. If you have a mechanical keyboard like this one where the switches are all exposed, you could consider using an air blow to speed up the drying process.
Speaker 1: Now turn the keyboard upside down and let it dry overnight in the morning before plugging the keyboard back in, check all the keys to see if you find any of them sticking, if not, feel free to plug it in and see how it works. But if you have keys that are sticking either from a recent spill or from a splash in the past, here's how to clean a sticky keyboard. Before we start worrying about sticky keys, let's get all the big pieces [00:01:00] of whatever out of your keyboard, hold the keyboard at an angle and give it a good shake over a trash can or just over the floor. If that's how you choose to live next, you can turn to a can of compressed air or an air blower like this one to try and dislodge any more big particles that might be hiding under your key.
Speaker 1: C net's KDT has an article that outlines a thorough zigzag technique for blowing out the dunk. You can try a vacuum if that's more your style, but you do run the risk of losing small pieces. If everything isn't firmly attached, how are those sticky keys treating you? Now, if one or [00:01:30] more keys is still sticking, you may be better off removing those key caps to clean underneath, but be careful not all keyboards were made to be taken apart. A mechanical keyboard like this one is made to be customized. So removing the key caps is easy. A little tool like this pops the keys right off. This is a cheaper version. So it doesn't have removable switches, but if yours does, you might need to pull them out to clean them as well. This is a pretty standard PC keyboard. And most of these keys come off the same way with a key cap removal tool, except for these media control buttons across the top.
Speaker 1: [00:02:00] This wireless keyboard has flatter keys like an apple magic keyboard, use a thin screwdriver or a tool like this to gently pry the key cap up from the side, but don't damage the parts underneath. And don't pry too hard when taking any of these keys off. If you have to apply too much pressure, odds are the key cap. Isn't meant to be removed with the problematic key caps removed. Hopefully you can see whatever substance is causing the keys to stick. So let's turn to what some people believe to be the solution to many of life's problems. Alcohol. In this case, I'm referring to Ethel or [00:02:30] isoprol alcohol. You can use a damp alcohol wipe or a cloth or cotton swab dampen with rubbing alcohol. Don't let anymore liquid drip down into the keyboard. If you can help it as that can damage the hardware that lives underneath the keys, wipe down all the parts of the sticky key, the cap, the switch, and any other exposed parts, especially if you can see signs of the spill that cause the problem, try to work the alcohol around by pressing down on the key or wiggling any parts around to loosen everything up as best you can.
Speaker 1: Some keyboards will have a rubber membrane underneath the key caps. [00:03:00] In that case, try to avoid allowing the alcohol to come in contact with the rubber as the material could become brittle and crack over time. But if your keyboard isn't working, it might be better to try and fix it. Now then worry about the future. You could try to clock just slightly dampen with water on that part. If you're concerned, let all the parts dry before you reassemble the keys you've taken apart. These key caps just pop right on while these have little clips. So be gentle in putting them back on. Make sure [00:03:30] it's aligned before applying too much pressure when everything is dry and reassembled. It's time for the moment of truth. Go ahead and plug your keyboard back in or turn it on with any luck. Your sticky keys will be working smoothly again, and you can get back to sending uplifting messages to strangers on the internet. If you've got any more cleaning projects, you want us to help you tackle. Let me know in the comments. Thanks for watching. And we'll see you next time.
