deskthority

Hello all,

Me and a partner are attempting to create a new solution to cleaning keyboards which is safer and more effective than solutions which already exist. We could very much appreciate it if some of you could fill out this survey to help us gather research from those who are knowledgeable on the subject.

https://forms.gle/gKHDtkphpYju5jNi6

This is the link to fill out the survey. All results are anonymous and will help us greatly. Thank you!

Form is restricted to people with a Google account.
Next thing a Facebook account will be required to buy bread,
a Twitter account to enter a bus
an Instagram account to cross the street
and a TikTok account to donate to a charity.

This anyway is probably the first step to gaining valuable yet free knowledge
in order to build a start-up hoped to be sold to Big Tech for huge money

I would settle for a better way to clean the sides of keys without having to remove them. Alcohol wipes and cotton swabs work, but there's still a good amount of work for each board.

For chiclets there is already Cyberclean. It is full-size keyboards with mechanical switches that are difficult.

denture tabs and a paintbrush literally cost 3 bux

try and beat that with your whatever product thing

soyuz wrote: ↑

15 Oct 2021, 02:16

denture tabs and a paintbrush literally cost 3 bux

try and beat that with your whatever product thing

That's essentially where I'm at, but I also use an ultrasonic. Depending on the dirt level, I might use Simple Green instead of tabs and water. I've got a gallon / 3ish liter jug of Simple Green. Costs $5 US / 4ish Euro and you're supposed to water it down. Like, a lot.

While I do have a very large paintbrush, I bought one of these. If you take your key caps off, this works remarkably well for cleaning up keyboard crud left in the case. I think it's even better than the paintbrush, except for just dust. I do use it dry and I don't press down too hard. (I take no responsibility for people who actually do put water and soap in 'em and start scrubbing away with 1500lbs / 3.96 Newtons of force.)

I've got to buy a proper air compressor, someday. I have an air blower that works OK-ish.

Looks like this survey is for a high school project. I don't think they have a marketing department, so they probably don't realize that most people wouldn't buy cleaning products from a company called "HazMatt."

Cleaning keyboards:

1) Remove keycaps
2) Blast with airblower / compressor & agitate with a small brush
3) Q-Tips dipped in alcohol to wipe between key switches

Cleaning Keycaps:

1) Buy an ultrasonic cleaner and make your life easier
OR
2) put all keycaps in a bowl of soapy warm water and leave for a few hours - agitate all keys with a cloth or brush.

Maintenance:

Hypocholorous acid spray the keycaps to keep things hygienic & do yearly full cleans if it gets particularly nasty.

I'd fill in the survey but as Kbdfr pointed out, you'd need to use a google account. Doubt I'd change from my current methods though.

I use a magic eraser + automatic dish detergent for cleaning old keyboard cases.

I pull the key caps and give them a quick soak in hot water with powdered laundry detergent (and usually a spoonful of some "oxi-" booster) then rinse thoroughly.

Vacuum the internals first (and sometimes blow air afterwards) then additional cleaning with alcohol and paper towels and/or swabs if necessary.

I also wash case shells with hot soapy water as long as there are no electrics attached.

For "quickie" intermediate cleaning I hold the board upside-down and shake, then vacuum with it still inverted. Afterwards I do a quick alcohol wipe.

I've been using isopropyl for years on my OG (very old) GMK sets. No problem at all.

SK-8K wrote: ↑

25 Oct 2021, 03:47

I use a magic eraser + automatic dish detergent for cleaning old keyboard cases.

Do note that the Magic Eraser is really a fine grain wet sandpaper. Make sure you aren't too enthusiastic when you use it.

The only time I'll use a magic eraser is to sand away light damage / pen marks that have worked their way into the plastic