My husband Weirddave just asked me how long it would take for his keyboard to dry out, were he to run it through the dishwasher.
Me: “Uh, forever. I think you just need to clean it with a brush.”
Him: “No, really. I heard that you can do that.”
Me: “I think you may be crazy.”
Him: “Post a thread in GQ.”
So, Dopers? Is it possible to clean a computer keyboard in the dishwasher, or does that render it useless? What is the best way to clean it?
I would have just soaked it in warm water, maybe used a gentle sink sprayer or something (too easy to melt parts or rip them off and send them flying around the washer). I would think that the keyboard should be turned over a couple of times during the drying process as water will pool in parts of it.
If he has already run it through the washer, a hair dryer probably won’t hurt it. As for how long it takes to dry… who knows? Depends on the humidity and other factors, and checking isn’t that easy.
To wash or not to wash. That IS the question. 
Um, you just clean it off with a cotton swab and alcohol.
[next time, buy a black one]
I’ve always used an old toothbrush.
I just use canned air…
I just washed mine last month-- after several years of neglect.
I have a bad habit of eating and rolling those little cigarettes over my keyboard. It got quite unwholesome-looking.
I took it apart and removed the contact sheet & other electronic parts. I left all the keys on, and just prayed that it would dry before the springs oxidized.
I washed it in the sink with dish detergent and a dish-brush, and then hung it up on the clothes-line for a few hours before reassembling it, which probably made the neighbors wonder what the hell that was about.
It worked like charm. (Actually, I’ve never seen a charm that actually did anything, so perhaps that’s not the ideal simile. It worked like some sort of useful and practical device.)
I once cleaned an old (but perfectly operational) keyboard the sloooow way – by popping off groups of keys, cleaning them with a solvent (Windex? alcohol? rubber cement thinner? I honestly don’t remember), and using canned air to clean the crevices in the board itself. Worked great.
Er – I’ve heard of ‘popping’ off keycaps, is that really all there is to it? Just yank on them hard, and they snap back afterwards? My computer is a Dell, if that makes a difference.
I’ve been afraid to experiment, but with two cats who like to hang out on my computer desk, the keyboard is really, really dire. Not the mouse any longer, thanks to whomever invented optical mice.
I’m way too lazy to take apart a keyboard and clean it (although I have done it before, twice). What I usually do instead is run it through the dishwasher. There are a few things you need to be careful of. First you need to wrap the cord up so it can’t get tangled up in any of the moving parts of the dishwasher. Next you need to make sure the keyboard is facing with the keys downward (in other words, place it upside down in the dishwasher, not right side up). Third, don’t use soap. Fourth, if your dishwasher has a “heat dry” then disable it. This may be labled “air dry” in which case you enable it, so that it will dry only using air, not the heating element at the bottom of the dishwasher. If you forget this step, you may end up baking your keyboard into a molten blob of uselessness. Well, probably not, but you may melt parts of it and render it useless.
I always let them dry out for at least a couple of days before use.
I’ve resurrected about a dozen keyboards from the trash using this method, and have never had a working keyboard damaged by it. However, since your dishwasher may not be the same as mine, I should add the usual YMMV.
If you decide to go the key popping route, be very careful that you don’t break the keys, and also pop the key loose then lift it gently. If you whap the key off, it may go flying in one direction and the spring underneath may go flying in the other. Usually you can get under the keys with a small flat blade screwdriver and pry them off without putting too much stress on them.
After popping off the keys, you may also have to disassemble the keyboard and seperate the membranes. Be very careful cleaning them. They are kinda delicate.
It takes me about an hour to carefully disassemble a keyboard and clean it thoroughly. Like I said I’ve only done it twice, so a practiced tech may be able to do it faster. The dishwasher method involves a lot less effort on my part.
One day at work (a computer tech) I spilled my mocha not once, but TWICE in my cheap bench keyboard.
I figured I had pretty much wasted it so I did a little test.
Without taking it apart I rinsed the mocha out under the sink. There was still mocha residue so I took some Simple Green and sprayed the heck out of it. I let it soak for a few minutes.
I then rinsed it out under the sink again and then drained the water.
I took it outside and hosed it off with the air compresser hose. Blasting any water and gunk out. I let it dry over night.
The next morning it worked just fine.
I wouldn’t reccomend this on a keyboard you cared about. But on a cheap keyboard you dont mind replacing if you have to,. why not. It seemed to work just fine for years to come.
I’ve twice taken mine apart down to the bare parts. Everything is apart, and then I wash the keys with a brush in the sink, shake it, and start putting it together about half an hour later.
I was simply amazed at how many screws it had. It now has about half of the original ones holding the parts together.
I heard about the dishwasher method a while back and know someone who tried it and claimed it work. As a test, I took a couple of old flaky kbs and ran them thru. Both are now dead. YMMV
Prying off some keys may be okay but others can be real problems. Frequently the space bar has levers or some such that are very easily damaged or difficult to rehook. Next most common problem are with the shift-type keys.
I don’t take keys off. I take the keyboard apart from the underside and clean what I can from that direction. Pure water on a damp, not soaking, swab+canned air. Circuit trace pens can do wonders.
The sooner you clean it after a spill, the better off you’ll be.
Pretty much.
I had a maintenance job at an office-equipment company many moons ago, (long enough ago that the first few years involved quite a bit of typewriter maintenance, and it didn’t even seem quaint and antiquated,) and I had an ultra-sophisticated tool for key removal.
It was a little white plastic handle with two wire loops that fit under the key. Then you yanked it up. It cost about a dollar.
Alternatively, you can use a really small screwdriver as a lever, but if you’re not careful, you can put little dents in the plastic with it.