Once the keys are off, you can better use a paper towel and maybe some alcohol solution to clean the keyboard base. Be extra careful, since the mechanism is made of plastic and you don’t want to break it. Start with one corner and move to an adjacent one. You don’t need to use a lot of force you should feel a pop and the key will come right off.įor laptop keyboards, your fingernail should be enough to pull the plastic up.

For custom keyboard, it might be helpful to draw a quick map or take a picture with your digital camera so you know where everything belongs when you go to put things back together.įor desktop keyboards, take a butter knife or a screwdriver and try to pry up one corner of the keys. If you have a standard keyboard, you’ll be able to find references to where all the keys should go if you don’t already have the layout memorized. To get rid of sticky keys, we’ll need to pop off the keys and clean the keyboard more thoroughly. While it’s best to clean while the keyboard is still wet to minimize the stickiness, the process is much the same whether you spilled your soda 30 seconds ago or 30 days ago. Dump out any excess liquid and mop up as best you can with paper towels. First thing’s first, unplug your keyboard. What’s worse than accidentally turning on Sticky Keys? Spilling your soda and getting real sticky keys. Scrub it over the tops of the keys, and use a wet cotton swab to go down in between them. Take a little alcohol solution and moisten an old rag or a paper towel with it. Anything about 60% alcohol or more is fine higher concentrations don’t really help kill more germs, but it also won’t hurt. Be sure to use isopropyl and NOT ethyl, as the harsher ethyl alcohol can take the lettering off of the keys.

Clean apple computer keyboard