Sticky Keyboard!

May have a yes or no answer for you lot!

We've all been there.. surely. I spilt a glass of orange juice (alright and vodka) all over my desk and keyboard the other day, I poured out all the excess and wiped the sticky keys over.

I have a few sticky keys which I now have to jab at, or once they're down, they're down only to be prised up with a pointy stick (ah, the many uses of the pointy stick...)

Question is, can I immerse my keyboard in soapy water? I'm sure someone told me you can without any damage, that they were water proof inside.
However if I did everything that people told me was ok ...I probably wouldn't be here. :/
I trust you lot though.

Shall I dunk?

 

Well if its a wireless keyboard you will first have to take out the batteries, then you can soak it keys down in warm water only, well shaking it back and forth. Lift up keys stil down and shake excess water out then place on towel to dry with keys down. The keyboard is not I repeat NOT waterproof, but is water resisitant............The above trick has worked most times, but alas is not 100% successful............I also know a Lady that puit her's in the "Dishwasher" and believe it or not the dang thing worked. Hope that Helps

 

or you could just use the clip or whatever is on the back of your keyboard and individually take off the function keys.. dunk those in soapy water... much more hassle but safer...

 

I must admit I did spill most of a glass of red wine into my keyboard last year. I had a spare one so with nothing to lose, I took the sticky one apart and washed it with shower gel, then rinsed all the parts with warm water. I dried it completely before I put it back together and it's worked fine ever since.
It's a ps2 one, so I undid the screws on the back. Carefully took it off, being even more careful (yes I was sober when I did it) to not pull any wires off the printed circuit board . It has layers of what look like clear plastic inside, and there was wine in between these as well.
Mostly it's just cigarette tobacco and ash that gets in there these days, and holding it upside down and hitting it usually clears it out.

 

if it is a wired keyboard water wont hurt it, just don't plug it back in until it is COMPLETELY dry, inside and out. a safer option would be to pry off the keys with a small flathead screwdrivers and wash them with soap and water, most keyboards have keys that just pop off, be careful with the space bar and large keys, they usually have a metal bar that can be bent/broken when trying to take the key off.

 

I'd be very careful about using water er immersing/submersing
Many keyboard's can be taken apart then cleaned & dryed

What exact Keyboard do you have?
Water proof keyboard, I doubt it
We Know it's not juice proof roflmao

 

I think the general opinion seems to be, keyboards can be abused, but not too much.

So far I prised off the offending keys, and a few more..and gave them a wash. Then I got bored and wanted my keyboard back :S
It's back in working order, no more key jabbing for me.
I will be doing the whole thing at some point soon though, I was suprised (disgusted) at the amount of grime!

Well, I'm off to work now. Hope all geeks have a good day.
Thanks again all for your input.

 

I once spilled something (I think Rum and coke . . . this was why I started drinking my booze straight . . . lol) in a keyboard, and had the sticky keys problem. I was afraid to use water, so I used standard rubbing alcohol instead - poured it into the keyboard and swished it around a a bit; clicking on the keys in the process. I used the entire bottle in the end. I shook it out really well and made sure to wipe off the keys (alcohol can bleach plastic) I then let it sit overnight with a fan blowing on it for the alcohol to evaporate from it's innards. It seemed to work ok after that - the keys were no longer sticky, and everything functioned ok. I actually think I still have that keyboard somewhere.

I don't know if this was a wise choice or not . . . I just know it worked for me. It was an older, non-media type keyboard - and I don't think it had a membrane . . .

Anybody else ever do this? Was I just lucky?

 

I'd guess that you were a bit lucky -- that whatever you spilled on your keyboard was soluble in rubbing alcohol.

You were also lucky that the other components of rubbing alcohol evaporated away cleanly without interfering with the plastic.

I'd have used clean water (lots of it) to wash away the spill, then pure isopropyl alcohol to take away the water. Then let it stand as long as needed to make sure that you got all the water out. If the water in your area is hard, use distilled water.