What is the most used input device for both laptops and desktops? You guessed it right; it’s the keyboard. And the keyboard is also the largest area where it’s exposed to air and air-borne dirt and specks of dust.
Therefore, it’s part of regular laptop maintenance to clean up the keyboard effectively. And over this article today, we’ll show you how. Got some minutes to check the methods out? Let’s go-
How to Clean Laptop Keyboard: Easy Ways
To work your laptop keyboard perfectly, you need to clean regularly. Otherwise, some key will not work. So today, I will tell you how to clean a laptop keyboard.
Phase 1: Preparing the Keyboard for Cleaning
Before we step into the actual cleaning process of the laptop keyboard, we have to stop by and prepare it for the process. It all starts with these steps-
Turn off and Unplug
At first, you have to detach the keyboard and the whole computer from power. Shut off the laptop, although we are not going to put any liquid into the keyboard. However, it’s safe to be safe, right?
Once done, take the power cord off and isolate the laptop from any kind of wiring.
Decide Whether You’ll Detach the Keyboard or Not
If we look forward to a full form laptop cleaning chore, we had the best option of removing the keyboard entirely from the laptop. This process might be somewhat complicated, but it will let you clean every part and corner of the keyboard itself and the circuitry of it.
Select the Cleaning Mediums
Now, you get to pick up several cleaning mediums as per the instructions from the next section. Before we end up with the steps of phase 2, let us give you the list of items-
- Microfiber cloth.
- A handheld vacuum cleaner with attachment.
- Melamine sponge.
- Water.
- Rubbing alcohol.
- Cotton swabs.
Phase 2: Cleaning the Laptop Keyboard
Deal with the macro debris
The basic clean up starts with taking the bigger sized debris off the keyboard. The most usual place where they house themselves is the gap between the keyboard keys and the casing of the keys.
Tilt the laptop upside down and do tap gently the back of it to take a majority of this dirt off. It will bring out the dust bunnies, the debris, the crumbs, etc. By getting out of the bigger ones, it’s easier to deal with the smaller ones.
Deal the Long Term Specks of dust
There is always some sort of sticky stains that take place. Over time, there is dust build upon them, and that turns them fully permanent. At his moment, that’s what we are calling the permanent specks of dust.
To take them off, a vacuum cleaner might be the key. But selecting the right vacuum cleaner is quite imperative at this stage. The most common solution to this problem is to use a handheld vacuum cleaner.
Once you get the vacuum cleaner, slowly maneuver it around each of the keystrokes and the gaps between them. Also, if you manage to have a brush to dig through these holes while vacuum cleaning, that would make it even more efficient.
These brushes are sometimes available as micro vacuum attachments. You can look forward to one such attachment as well.
Dealing with the grimes
After the permanent dust, the next enemy that you have to fight is the grimes. No matter how hard you clean the keyboard with a vacuum cleaner, these grime are not supposed to go away. These are also called the crud, generated from oil, skin cells, food dust, grease, and a similar source of dirt.
However, to deal with these grimes, you need to have a melamine sponge and water. Take the sponge and soak it thoroughly into the water. Now squeeze the melamine sponge and gently rub those areas with grimes with the sponge.
Once you have cleaned the grimes off, let the place dry completely. Even a single drop of water can bring on imperative damage if you don’t dry it off completely.
Also, another important thing that we think is important to state is melamine is a pretty harmful thing for electrical components. So while you are cleaning with a melamine sponge, please don’t rub it too hard on the keys and the corners of the keyboard. Otherwise, it might recall further risks for the internal electronics of the laptop.
Fight the germs
At this stage, we are up to the hardest kind of threats that are possible to take place on a keyboard. And they are the germs.
Germs are bio-hazards that are generated from organic sources like us humans. Specially, when you are working with your laptop around places where it’s crowded, your laptop can catch up germs pretty quick. Unless you can take care of that, it can bring on even severe diseases.
However, let’s clean off the germs right away-
For cleaning the germs off your laptop keyboard, you need to get isopropyl alcohol and a bundle of cotton swabs. Isopropyl alcohol is known as rubbing alcohol. On the other hand, cotton swabs are there to protect your keyboard from any kind of liquid interruptions.
Soak the cotton swab lightly into the rubbing alcohol and carefully put that into the exposed area of the keyboard. Afterward, use a mix of warm water to clean that area over again.
Once done, dry the entire keyboard area under the dry, open air. That’s all!
Bottom Line
So, that was the 2-phase solution on how to clean a laptop keyboard. The keyboard is one of the most used input devices for laptops. So we should take care of this. If you’ve got things right, you can maximize the performance and lifetime of your keyboard in these methods that we’ve talked about.