


For example, on some machines it is easy to pop the keys off and put them back on. The process you will use to clean your laptop has to do with how ambitious you are feeling at the time and how hardy your machine happens to be. (It is always better to have a dirty laptop than to shock yourself or ruin your machine during the cleaning process.) Also, remove the mouse, any discs or CDs, USB drives and anything else that is protruding from your machine. Cleaning a Laptop Keyboardīefore you start cleaning your laptop’s keyboard, make sure it is unplugged and powered off. There are also electric air dusters available should you find yourself needing one often enough to justify the expense. The Giottos Rocket Blaster Air Blower is a manually operated pump that can product a suprisingly strong blast of air and is commonly used by photographers to clean their lenses. Be aware that there are other, greener options as well. This article refers to the compressed air that is most commonly found in aerosol cans. The keyboards in particular are delicate and should be kept clean to ensure proper operation. Once all of this is done, your keyboard should be more responsive on the switches with fewer instances of switch sticking, it'll be cleaner / safer in terms of health, and you can stop cringing every time you accidentally look top-down.Ĭonsider taking this opportunity to buy some keycaps that are tailored to your favorite games, while you've got all the caps pulled.Since laptops are made to be used outside of the usual office environments, they tend to get dirty much more quickly than their desktop counterparts. Residue can cause switch sticking.Īnd that's about it, really. Just make sure you check user reviews if straying from what is recommended here. Don't use sticky compound that is too sticky.If using any kind of liquid at all to clean the keyboard, do not reconnect it to a system before the liquid dries.Some keyboards will have the PCB protected with a plastic cover to guard against spills, but that might not hold against high-pressure blasting. Do not apply high-pressure spray (blasting it with a hose) as this can damage or rust springs and underlying PCBs.A Q-Tip will also do the trick, but requires more elbow grease. If using solution of some kind, allow the solution to fully dry before remounting the keycaps and connecting the keyboard electrically. To remove final remnants, use the 3M scrub brush and solution (you could also apply any scrub brush or pipe cleaner with some rubbing alcohol) to scrub-out what's left.We wouldn't recommend anything stronger than what was linked above. There are stickier compounds out there, but you risk leaving sticky residue on the keyboard / switches that could cause switch sticking in the future. Cyber Clean won't grab everything, so you'll still need to do some more work.
#Sticky key keyboard cleaner spray skin#


You might also opt for a Hazmat suit and hellfire missiles (out of stock on Amazon) in the case of especially toxic keyboards. Not all of these are necessary, though for particularly tough jobs, they can make life easier. Q-Tips will also work (apply rubbing alcohol), but require more effort. 3M Keyboard Cleaner (scubber / sponge + solution - $7).Anti-static compressed air ($9 for 1 or ~$20 for 4) alternatively, use an air compressor.With lightly-used keyboards, you can get away with just the keycap puller and compressed air jobs that involve more hair or caked-in nastiness would do well to add the 3M scrub brush and Cyber Clean material.
