Think You Need a Deeper Clean?
Maybe you’re working with a hand-me-down, or perhaps you’re an emotional snacker when you’re on deadline. (I’m just calling myself out here.) Sometimes, the keycaps and the keyboard as a whole needs more than just a little elbow grease.
Das Keyboard, which makes a line of mechanical keyboards, has a helpful page on deep cleaning their products. The instructions work for some other boards, too. They suggest using an ultrasonic cleaner for keycaps like the ones you can buy to clean jewelry and watches. Their brand of PBT keycaps can also be soaked in denture tablets or dish soap, both effective at removing oils and sterilizing the plastic bits. Avoid using any household cleaning products besides dish soap, even plant-based ones. They have ingredients that can affect the paint on your keycaps.
In extreme cases, like if you’ve spilled a sugary drink and you’ve all but prayed over the body of your sticky keyboard, you can take apart your board layer-by-layer to clean everything from the PCB to the plate that secures it all in. Check with the manufacturer of your keyboard before doing this, however. If you can’t locate anything official, there are plenty of enthusiast-made threads on Reddit, as well as videos on YouTube showing you how to clean the real thing.
