# Okay, this WAS NOT MY FAULT
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 2, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062 "2001-11-02T04:32:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/1 "2001-11-02T04:32:02Z")
…
…
All right, it was my fault. I knocked over a can of pop, and now the E key on my computer is sticky. How do I clean it?
---
### Author:  [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/2 "2001-11-02T04:41:27Z")
WD 40 might might work.
If not wally mart for less that 10 bucks you can get a new keyboard.
---
### Author:  [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/3 "2001-11-02T05:05:49Z")
Take a butter knife and pop the key out. Watch for where it goes though, sometimes they take interesting travels. Get a q-tip and soak it with alcohol, and wipe the whole area around and inside the button, (the one on the keyboard). You may need to pry out some keys around it to clean better.
---
### Author:  [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/4 "2001-11-02T06:23:54Z")
Thanks **ladyfoxfyre**. Isopropyl alcohol works?
**Reeder** , no. I LOVE my keyboard.
---
### Author:  [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/5 "2001-11-02T07:06:50Z")
Immerse in FC-40 dielectric fluid. Agitate. Drip dry, and use as normal. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/6 "2001-11-02T12:44:00Z")
[stern voice on]
NEVER EVER BRING A SOFT DRINK WITHIN 5 FEET OF A COMPUTER!
[/stern voice off]
Ok, carry on.
---
### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/7 "2001-11-02T12:54:40Z")
You are **DOOMED**.
But it’s not my fault. 😉
---
### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/8 "2001-11-02T13:46:13Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by glee \*
> \*\*[stern voice on]
> NEVER EVER BRING A SOFT DRINK WITHIN 5 FEET OF A COMPUTER!
> [/stern voice off]
>
> Ok, carry on. \*\*
looks at keyboard.
looks at soda.
measures distance by eye…
wuh-oh…
---
### Author:  [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/9 "2001-11-02T14:51:52Z")
Back when I bought my first computer in 1992, included in the price was a liquid-resistant keyboard. In the two years I had that thing, I must have spilled coke on it a dozen or more times; I never once saw any decrease in performance. Since then, I’ve never even been able to find a keyboard that’s drink-resistant. What the heck? Why isn’t this standard now if we’ve had the technology for 10 years?
–Cliffy
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/10 "2001-11-02T15:00:20Z")
You can also toss it in the dishwasher. (Honest! Don’t use the hot air dry cycle, though.)
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/11 "2001-11-02T15:06:33Z")
Top rack, of course.
---
### Author:  [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/12 "2001-11-02T15:08:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by glee \*
> \*\*[stern voice on]
> NEVER EVER BRING A SOFT DRINK WITHIN 5 FEET OF A COMPUTER!
> [/stern voice off]
> \*\*
If this applied to coffee, I’d be a Luddite. There are always several coffee cups and water bottles right next to my monitor on the stand right above my keyboard. In the last many years, I’ve never once spilled on my gear.
And no, I can’t contibute to the OP. Obviously I have no experience in this area. I just wanted to submit that proximity (of drinks) and damage (from drinks) are not necessarily correlated.
---
### Author:  [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/13 "2001-11-02T15:31:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Libertarian \*
> \*\*You can also toss it in the dishwasher. (Honest! Don’t use the hot air dry cycle, though.) \*\*
Do this only as a last resort, but, yeah, it works sometimes.
---
### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/14 "2001-11-02T15:57:51Z")
No dish soap, though. Just water.
---
### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/15 "2001-11-02T18:45:11Z")
True story.
I’m always telling the kids at school about my rule.
They quickly appreciate the sticky sugar deposit that will remain after evaporation, and why you can’t simply wash it off.
I also point out that the swivel chair was invented for **one purpose only** : so the user can glide to the drink, swallow and then glide safely back to the keyboard.
Only one pupil has ever argued the point.
For his birthday, his parents bought him a laptop.
Yesterday he came in and asked how you deal with a sticky keyboard. I managed not to laugh, and our technician gave him advice.
But I can laugh now…
😃
---
### Author:  [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/16 "2001-11-02T18:54:58Z")
Phew. At least you have an e to work with, and The Mermaid fixed the space bar so no-more-reading-posts-from-her-like-this. Makes reading a lot easier on the eyes, though on occasion, my ? will turn into É.
And my soda is on the credenza, primarily since some posts will make me laugh and spew soda on the monitor.
---
### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/17 "2001-11-02T19:21:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by screech-owl \*
> And my soda is on the credenza, primarily since some posts will make me laugh and spew soda on the monitor.
NEVER EVER BRING A SOFT DRINK WITHIN 5 FEET OF A COMPUTER!
…and don’t read SDMB posts while drinking.
---
### Author:  [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2001, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/18 "2001-11-02T20:20:58Z")
I fixed it. My E key functions again!
Now how should I fix a stuck spacebar that periodically kicks my next word all across the page?
---
### Author:  [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2001, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-this-was-not-my-fault/91062/19 "2001-11-03T00:00:55Z")
**Dao** , what did you do to fix it?