Posted on 03/23/2006 5:41:57 AM PST by 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!
ping
If it ruins the keyboard, who cares? Just get a new one.
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.
I wash my son's ball caps in our dishwasher's top rack. The retain their shape and come remarkably clean.
I haven't ever tried it myself, keyboards are so dang cheap these days..
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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...
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.
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)
Ping some people to this thread please ;-)
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!
Won't fit, especially in the upper rack.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.