How to clean laptop keyboard?

**Bandish** · 27-02-2009

Hi all,

I spilt a cup of coffee on my laptop keyboard. But i m lucky to use it again as its working after reboot.

Now i want to clean it. So anyone know how to clean it safely?

All suggestions are welcome!

**Hardwareman** · 27-02-2009

Did the coffee have any cream or sugar in it? If so, you better purchase a new keyboard. If not, then just pull the keyboard completely out of your laptop and unhook the connector that connects it to the laptop (there should be one cable). Then, rinse the keyboard out completely using just a running faucet and let it air dry for about three days. Next, reconnect it and you should be set.

**Maxforu** · 27-02-2009

The process you will use to clean your laptop has to do with how ambitious you are feeling at the time and how hardy your machine happens to be. On some machines it is easy to pop the keys off and put them back on. If you’re not confident that you can get the keys back on your laptop’s keyboard, do not take them off.

Cleaning your laptop with the keys removed
If you’ve decided that you would like to take off the keys, use a knife or similar object to gently pop them off. Then store them in a safe place so that they don’t get lost. Even if you’re one of the confident ones, it’s still recommended that you leave the space bar and other larger keys in place. They are a real dozy to get back on due to their design.

Once you’ve pried all of the keys off of your laptop that you will be prying, place them in a small bowl, such as a cereal bowl, and add a couple drops of dish soap for hand washing to clean them with some light scrubbing. (Be sure to plug the drain if the bowl is in the sink.) Then follow the rest of the steps below while they soak.

Cleaning the rest of the keyboard
Unlike a traditional desktop keyboard, your laptop has many more nooks and crannies that need to be cleaned, such as drives, ports and the touchpad. For any nook and cranny type areas, the best thing to do is just spray inside them with the compressed air. Remember that the air is pressurized so you don’t want to get too close to the surface or this pressure could damage your computer.

For the rest of the keyboard, such as the touchpad, you can use a cloth that will not leave fuzz, such as an old t-shirt or handkerchief, a microfiber cloth, or one made specifically for electronics.

Dampen the cloth by dipping it in a solution of half lukewarm water and half isopropyl alcohol, a bowl of lukewarm water with a drop of dish detergent for hand washing, or just lukewarm water if your laptop is not that dirty. Wring out the cloth (water dripping into your machine, bad thing) and then wipe the keyboard top, sides and bottom. If you’re having trouble cleaning a tight area, such as where the monitor meets the keyboard, you can use a cotton swab. Just be careful that the swab doesn’t shed.

Note: You can also use electronics cleaner of course. Always spray it on the cloth, not the machine.

If you have the little rubber nub in the middle of your keyboard, known as the pointer, you can remove it from the keyboard and drop it in the cleaning solution or give it a quick onceover with an old toothbrush to remove any gunk from the grooves.

Letting your keyboard dry
Leave your laptop out so that it can dry. Do not shut the lid. Hopefully, since you used the water or cleaning solution sparingly, it should not take very long. If you removed the keys from your keyboard, you can set them out on the counter or table or wipe them dry with your cloth (if it’s not dry, use a new one of course). Then pop them back on when you’re sure that your machine and the keys are both fully dry.

Never plug in and/or turn on your machine until you are positive that it has dried completely.

**Killen** · 27-02-2009

Spilling coffee on your laptop will not only ruin your morning, it can ruin your computer. Act quickly if this happens, because it only takes seconds for liquids to destroy the hard drive of a laptop computer. Follow these steps to save it:

Shut down the computer immediately.
Wipe up any liquid. Tilt the computer to the side to drain any liquids.
Remove any removable parts from the laptop, including the power cord, printer and mouse cables, the floppy drive, CD drive, modem cards and battery. Do not disassemble the laptop body to remove internal parts.
Once the parts are removed, gently lift the computer and turn it to the side and upside down to drain any liquid. Tilt the computer in a variety of directions to verify that there are no pools of liquid lurking, but be careful not to shake it or handle it roughly.
Repeat with the floppy drive and other removable parts.
Use a hair dryer on a cool setting to dry the laptop and its parts if you can.
Allow the computer and its removable parts to dry for 24 hours before you reassemble it and turn it back on. (If you are under a tight deadline, let the laptop dry for at least an hour before you reassemble it.)
If the computer does not work properly or does not turn on, bring it to a computer repair professional, although the damage might be irreparable. Spills are one of the leading causes of laptop deaths.