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How to clean your disgusting keyboard (instead of throwing it out)
Your keyboard is a vital tool for computer use -- and, apparently, a veritable landfill for crumbs, dust, and who-knows-what-else. We lovingly clean our mouse balls (remember those?), polish our optical sensors, and wipe our monitors until they gleam. But how many of us deep-clean our keyboards? When was the last time you even thought about it?
I'm ashamed to admit that I never do. Instead of cleaning them, I've been tossing out keyboards every few years and buying new ones. But as a writer, I splurge on high-quality ones, like the , which I got for over $100 in 2019. It's wireless, with mechanical Cherry MX keys, Bluetooth, backlighting -- the whole shebang. I like their keyboards because they can customize to your preferences down to the component level and use open source logic in their microcontrollers, making them easy to update.
The only problem? It got really dirty. So, for the first time, I decided to clean my keyboard. How bad could it be, right?
Bad. Imagine five years of accumulated food matter and gooey dried beverage residue. The stuff you see with the keycaps on is just the tip of the iceberg; when they come off, it's a greatest-hits collection of all your breakfasts, lunches, late-night snacks, coffee spills, and Diet Coke disasters.
Here's how to clean your keyboard and keep it clean for the future. Remember that not all keyboards, such as membrane-style units, have removable keycaps, but most mechanical keyboards do.
The transformation is remarkable -- the keyboard looks almost brand new after a thorough cleaning. Even though I've worn off some of the letters, it now looks fresh and functions perfectly, proving that a little effort in maintenance can extend the life of your keyboard significantly.
