# Durn kids spilled lemonade on my keyboard ... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durn-kids-spilled-lemonade-on-my-keyboard/348420 "2006-03-15T04:24:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durn-kids-spilled-lemonade-on-my-keyboard/348420/1 "2006-03-15T04:24:27Z")
So, Mom had them clean up as best they could, but I think it’s a lost cause–letters are dying, one by one. Today, I appear to have lost the Ctrl key. No more Ctrl-Alt-Del for me! So the question is, should I get a new keyboard, or switch to Linux? This post has been brought to you by the letter Þ . ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durn-kids-spilled-lemonade-on-my-keyboard/348420/2 "2006-03-15T12:09:02Z")
Linux is good. I like SuSe10 myself. You could always get [a waterproof keyboard](http://www.inpace.com/flexi.html) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durn-kids-spilled-lemonade-on-my-keyboard/348420/3 "2006-03-15T13:03:18Z")
Put the keyboard in the dishwasher, upside down, and use no soap. If there’s a heat cycle at the end, turn it off (may be called “power saver dry” or some such, in which case you have to turn it ON to turn the heat OFF). Make sure the cable is wrapped up somewhere so it can’t get caught in the moving parts of the dishwasher. Let dry for a day or two before using it again. Your keyboard will be as good as new. At a 20-year celebration for the IBM PC, David Bradley (the IBM employee who created ctrl-alt-del) was on a panel with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other tech icons. The discussion turned to the keys. ‘I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,’ Bradley said. Gates didn’t laugh. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durn-kids-spilled-lemonade-on-my-keyboard/348420/4 "2006-03-15T13:35:32Z")
Or you could spend $10 on a [new keyboard](http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=318470&pfp=cat3). ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durn-kids-spilled-lemonade-on-my-keyboard/348420/5 "2006-03-15T18:31:10Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > So, Mom had them clean up as best they could, but I think it’s a lost cause–letters are dying, one by one. Today, I appear to have lost the Ctrl key. No more Ctrl-Alt-Del for me! So the question is, should I get a new keyboard, or switch to Linux? > > This post has been brought to you by the letter Þ . Er… I might be more than usually dimwitted today, having slept far too much in the afternoon, but I fail to see how switching to Linux will help with a dead keyboard. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durn-kids-spilled-lemonade-on-my-keyboard/348420/6 "2006-03-15T19:55:50Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Er… I might be more than usually dimwitted today, having slept far too much in the afternoon, but I fail to see how switching to Linux will help with a dead keyboard. :dubious: Linux doesn’t need ctrl-alt-del. It’s the ctrl key that’s broke. Don’t take it too seriously. It’s a bit of a jab at the stability of windows. Bill Gates doesn’t think it’s very funny either.