How to Clean Your Keyboard: Don't Use the Dishwasher!
When your computer keyboard starts to get gooey, or a few keys squeak every time you press it, it's time to give it a good cleaning.
Regular cleaning and maintenance of your keyboard helps ensure that you can use it for longer. This is especially important if you own a mechanical keyboard, as dust and dirt can interfere with all the moving parts that make the keyboard great to use.
While most of you are familiar with using canned air and disinfecting wipes to keep your keyboard in top condition, there's another cleaning method advocated by computer users: the dishwasher.
Really? dishwasher? Yes, some people throw their keyboards in and let the bigger machine do its thing.
But is this really the best option for your mechanical keyboard? Let's look at the facts.
Some keyboards can survive the dishwasher
If you search the internet for stories of computer users who wash their keyboards in the dishwasher, you'll find that it does apply to some of them.
For example, this author on NPR tried to clean his keyboard a few years ago after reading about another user's success. He said that although he chose to wait a week for it to dry, it was "absolutely spotless".
Also, some keyboards are waterproof if you really want to go this clean but don't want to risk damaging the keyboard. A Florida-based company called Seal Shield makes dishwasher-safe keyboards that you might consider buying for everyday use and saving your mechanical keyboard for specific uses, such as long hours of typing or gaming.
But using a dishwasher is not the way to go
When you're curious about how to clean your keyboard and have a mechanical keyboard, you should avoid the dishwasher method at all costs.
We've already mentioned some downsides of dishwasher cleaning in our guide to mechanical keyboards, such as exposing circuits and other electrical parts to water that could render the whole thing useless. Suddenly, you're thinking about replacing a $100+ mechanical keyboard.
Also, cleaning your keyboard in the dishwasher can affect your stress and productivity. If you've never tried dishwasher cleaning before, you don't know if the keyboard will come out normally, or if there are any hard water deposits that will prevent it from working. This adds a lot of stress to your already busy plate.
And given that your keyboard can take a few days to dry out completely (as the authors of NPR did), you'll have to find a temporary solution or a replacement keyboard to use when your primary keyboard becomes unusable.
Best option for keyboard cleaning
Sticking with old-fashioned canned air, disinfecting wipes, and even a small amount of alcohol are the safest ways to clean a mechanical keyboard. You don't have to worry about things getting damaged and dysfunctional (unless you're very harsh in the cleaning process).
Remember to check out the cleaning section in the mechanical keyboard guide for step-by-step instructions. They will take more time than a dishwasher, but you'll get longer-lasting, safer results.