How to clean a computer keyboard at home

The amount of time people spend at the computer is constantly growing - some people do not leave it for days on end. As a result, the input devices become dirty, lose their external appeal, and over time the question arises: how to clean the keyboard, can it be washed? In particularly neglected cases, there may be problems with its operation.
Of course, in this case the simplest and most reliable solution is to go and buy a new device. However, with some effort, this can be corrected and saved on buying.

The simplest way to extend the life of a computer keyboard is to timely and regularly care for it. The enemy for her in the first place is the liquid. Proceeding from this, one must understand that it is impossible to wash it with water. This will lead to corrosion of the contacts and lead to the failure of the device.

It is not difficult to wash the computer keyboard at home, this lesson does not require special equipment. As assistants can make usual household accessories and tools - a screwdriver, cotton swabs, a towel or a soft rag.
Depending on the degree of contamination of the device cleaning methods can be divided into several conditional options. However, in any case, to wash the keyboard with water in the assembled state is strictly prohibited.

Cleaning the keyboard for easy contamination

Light pollution means there is a small amount of dust, chips and other dry small debris on the keys and the rest of the computer keyboard. In this case, it is not necessary to clean the device.

It is recommended to take the following actions:

1. disconnect the device from the computer;
2. using a hair dryer to blow dust out of it, crumbs, etc.( instead of a hair dryer, you can use a vacuum cleaner or compressed air in a can);
3. wipe the keyboard with a slightly damp soft cloth or special computer napkins.

Medium-level pollution

Medium-level pollution implies the presence on the keyboard of not only fine dry debris, but also fat deposits on the keys. It is recommended that you do the following:

1. Disconnect the device from the computer.
2. Use a hair dryer or a can of compressed air to blow out dust, crumbs and so on.
3. Dampen the cotton swab in alcohol and gently remove the fat deposits from the keys. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the fact that alcohol can corrode letters and designations applied to them. Therefore, before such a rub, it is recommended to carefully check the reaction of the keys to alcohol, and only after making sure of their reliability, continue cleaning.

Cleaning with heavy soiling

For the best cleaning, it is necessary to completely disassemble the keyboard and wash it thoroughly. This is the only way to eliminate stuck dirt that can not be removed by blowing and which is inaccessible to a cotton swab dampened with alcohol. It gives an opportunity to achieve an optimal result, but it has several significant drawbacks: it takes a lot of time, some skills are required related to disassembling and assembling the keyboard, as well as the experience of dismantling and installing keys.

The keyboard is disassembled by screwing the screws with a screwdriver and then separating the top from the bottom. It is necessary to remove the thin plate through which signals are transmitted.

Then, using a thin screwdriver, each key is pulled out. When performing these actions, it is necessary to take into account that a special rather fragile latch is used to fasten each button, which must be carefully disconnected in order to remove the key.

Tip

Before disassembling the keyboard it's worth to get a scheme that will show the key layout on it. To do this, you need to find on the Internet a photo of a similar device or take a photo of your own before disassembling.

The removed keys can be washed with warm water using any means that does not contain corrosive substances. In addition, other plastic elements of the keyboard can be washed with water. They must be thoroughly wiped, be sure to allow them to dry completely, and only after that you can perform a reverse assembly of the keyboard. To ensure that all parts dry as quickly as possible, you can use a hairdryer or place them near any heat source.

Clean notebook keyboard

In notebooks and netbooks, the built-in keyboard is always used. This implies certain difficulties in cleaning. Unlike a conventional keyboard, you can not disassemble it and rinse it underwater. In addition, the keys are not disconnected on all models. But how do I clean a computer keyboard of this type? The optimal option for cleaning the input device of a notebook or netbook is blowing dust with a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer or compressed air from a can. You can also use a soft brush to extract the debris from the space between the keys.
Such cleaning, of course, will not be able to return the laptop's keyboard to its original purity, but, unfortunately, for the average user is more affordable option than a complete disassembly of the device. For more neglected cases, it makes sense to contact a service center or a computer repair center whose specialists can clean and qualitatively clean and return the original device to the keyboard of the portable device.