If you have spilled some potentially sticky substance into the recesses of your keyboard, here’s how to clean a keyboard spill.
- First thing to do is unplug your keyboard (if it is a laptop, remove the battery).
- Turn the unit upside down so that it can drain.
- Soak up as much of any spilled liquid as you can with a paper towel or rag.
- If it is a laptop, let it dry out (never use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process). Surprisingly, computer keyboards that have been disconnected from a desktop computer can be hand washed or even put through the dishwasher. Just be certain your device is 100% dry before reconnecting it.
- If you don’t want to risk the water-rinsing method, gently pop off the keys and clean the keyboard thoroughly. Do not forget to draw a quick map or take a picture with your digital camera so you know where every key belongs. Take a butter knife or a screwdriver and try to pry up one corner of the keys. You may be required to pry on more than one corner at a time to unsnap each key.
- Once the keys are off, you can better use a paper towel or cotton swabs and maybe isopropyl alcohol solution to clean the keyboard base. Be careful not to bend the metal bars or their slots.
- To clean the keys you can soak them in some dish soap (or other mild detergent) and warm water for about 1 hour. Then, lay them out and pat them down with a paper towel or clean rag and give them time to completely dry.
- To put the keys back on, just place them over their correct position and press them until you hear a snap.
However, it’s much easier just to not drink liquids by the computer then to deal with the mess it turns out to be in the end. Just try to avoid the hassle in anyway possible.
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