Wash keyboard in dishwasher?

[IndyTiger]

My wife was complaining about her dirty keyboard at work the other day and the IT guy suggested putting the keyboard in the dishwasher! I looked it up on the web and it actually can be done...provided you put the keyboard on the top rack, do not use soap, and take the heat dry function off. Still a little uneasy about trying this, though, and would like to find out if other freepers have done this. Thanks!

[kalee]

ping

[keithtoo]

Replacement keyboards cost $10 - or only $2.00 on Ebay.

If it ruins the keyboard, who cares? Just get a new one.

[Sally'sConcerns]

What kind of keyboard was it?

I've gone for 10 years without a mishap up until I replaced my keyboard last July. I bought a new wireless with a mouse and almost immediately spilled coffee into it. When I bought my new computer after Christmas it came with a wireless keyboard and I've now managed to spill both Sprite and coffee (cream and sugar) into it.

The keys still work but some of them want to stick. I don't want to do anything to it that would ruin it since it is still working.

[maggief]

[Quilla]

I wash my son's ball caps in our dishwasher's top rack. The retain their shape and come remarkably clean.

[Paradox]

I believe the writer Jerry Pournelle wrote about doing this some... 15 years ago maybe? Just make sure you let it dry out completely before using it again. Also, I would personally do a final rinse with distilled water, depending on how "hard" your water is.

I haven't ever tried it myself, keyboards are so dang cheap these days..

[TomGuy]

On a former computer, I washed the keyboard in the bathtub. I'd read where that was one way to clean it.

The new keyboard I purchased works fine, but it took some getting used to.

A while later, I decided to clean the mouse. I took it apart, cleaned lint and build up from various locations.

The new mouse I purchased works fine, but it took some getting used to.

===

Both the new keyboard and mouse were about $10 each at Walmart. Additonal note to self: If it ain't broke, quit trying to fix it.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Dont ever use the dishwasher. It will ruin it 100% of the time. What you could do is to strap it to the roof of your car and go through a car wash. Works for laptops and big screen TV's as well.

[Yo-Yo]

If you have a very high quality keyboard where every key is an honest-to-goodness switch, you can probably get away with this trick given that YOU DO NOT HAVE HARD WATER OR USE A WATER SOFTNER.

However, most keyboards simply have a conductive pad that presses against traces etched onto the underlying circuit board. My niece once spilled some bottled water into her keyboard, and upon disassembly I found that just the water caused the very fine traces to corrode and etch away.

If you must wash your keyboard because it is otherwise hosed anyway, you have nothing to lose and the no soap, no heated dry is the way I'd go. Keep in mind though that if you keep the rinse agent dispenser filled, you'll end up with a film of Jet-Dri all over your keyboard innards.

If the keycaps are just dirty, then take a clean rag or old t-shirt, spray Windex (no, I'm not Greek) ON THE RAG and wipe down the keyboard keys gently. I suggest you do this with the computer off, but if you do it with a word processing program open, if you clean your keyboard often enough you could end up with the next best-seller! (A corollary to the typing monkey theory.)

Good luck, and remember that CompUSA carries keyboards for under $20.

[js1138]

I have taken a number of keyboard like devises apart and washed them. Remote controls, for example. I would never put them in the dishwasher.

I use distilled water and make sure they are dry before reassembling them. Water doesn't hurt them, but if you don't take them apart they will take forever to dry.

Also, if you don't take them apart, you might not actually clean the part that's causing the trouble.

I do this with remote controls because they are hard to replace. When I spill something on my keyboard I replace it. I can get good keyboards at garage sales.

[USS Alaska]

Put this in your dishwasher

[nina0113]

And if you wrap it tightly in tinfoil, you can cook a roast on your car engine.

SOMETIMES washing a keyboard in the DW will work. SOMETIMES putting a blown hard drive in the freezer for an hour will let you boot it up long enough to get the data.

I'll take the trouble for the data on a hard drive - I won't bother for a keyboard.

Nina
Sysadmin

[PissAndVinegar]

An ounce of prevention...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823166039

Spill-Proof, Foldable & Slim
Rolls up to fit in Notebook Bag
Great for portable use - stores easily
Virtually indestructible

It's $30 but you'll never have to deal with this dilemma again.

I've got something similar and love it.
(takes a little getting used to the 'jellyish' keys tho)

[Riley]

My wife was complaining about her dirty keyboard at work the other day and the IT guy suggested putting the keyboard in the dishwasher!

The IT guy said that? Really?

Tell this 'IT guy' to get her a new keyboad, most rickey-tick. It's part of his job.

[hellinahandcart]

I have no idea why the word "doe" came out when I typed "for', but it's probably a clue about how the rest of this day will go...

[Graybeard58]

Mine was not wireless but I don't see that it would make any difference.

We have excess key boards laying around anyway so I gave it a try. I took it out before the dry cycle started and put it on a patio table and let it dry in the sun.

I am using it now and it's just fine It's a Dell key board that came with the comp.

[CindyDawg]

Don't do it. Just get a new one. There are even some medical ones you can buy that are solid covered. Do you know though that tests have shown that keyboards are harboring bacteria? I wash my hands after using a community board at work. I also read the other day that shopping cart handles are germ hotels too. Sigh. My favorite two places to eat. (in front of the computer and shopping during lunch)

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Ping some people to this thread please ;-)

[NonValueAdded]

A key point from the Digital Goddess:

Even though others claim success, I would try other methods first. And if you have a laptop, it obviously can't go in the dishwasher.

But you know some dingbats will do just that!

[linda_22003]

Won't fit, especially in the upper rack.