How To Clean That Filthy Keyboard

I've been a little obsessive about cleaning my peripherals after reading Chris' post about women's work areas being dirtier than men's. At first I thought that study must've been conducted by a man (which it was), but after popping a few keys off my keyboard to see what lurked under, I was too horrified to come to my own defense. Although, I will say that a dirty keyboard has nothing to do with one's sex, and everything to do with personal cleaning habits. The more often you clean it, the less surprises you'll discover under those QWERTY keys a year from now. I've found anything from staples to paper clips to food crumbs inside my keyboard, and here I thought my office space was a perfect "eight" when it came to cleanliness and organization.

It's one thing to clean your own peripherals, but I draw the line when it comes to cleaning the gunk out of someone else's keyboard. I've been handed some nasty keyboards on my first day on the job, which always lead to me request a new one. Knowing what I know, there's no way I'm going to clean out nostril hair, soda, food, and any other junk lurking inside a filthy keyboard. I'd rather bring my own before doing that.

Obviously, you can't request a new keyboard from your employer every year, so I thought I'd give you some tips and references to help you keep your keyboard clean year round:

1 Keep a can of compressed air, Q-Tips, wet naps, and/or LCD cleaner in your drawer at all times so can quickly remove debris or wipe spills off your gear. Always unplug your keyboard before every cleaning.

2.Chris Pirillo suggests the "shake and quake" approach. This usually works for me, and at least gets the bigger particles out before you start blowing compressed air or vacuuming between the keys. You'll be surprised what can be trapped under that QWERTY board. His fun quick video says it all.

3. Once you got all the debris out, tilt the keyboard, and start blowing air between the keys. I even popped out the space bar, driving all the gunk out with air to the now wider opening.

4. Chris "The Working Guy" Null suggests cleaning the surface with a regular household cleanser. Don't spray it directly onto the keyboard, but instead spray it on a paper towel. Begin wiping each key gently, and use Q-tips slightly moistened with alcohol to clean anything between the keys.

5. Becky over at Tech Republic suggests holding-off on certain snacks while you're at the keyboard. The worst offenders are sunflower seeds with shells, angel hair pasta, rice, Rice Krispies, and Jell-O. I'd also like to add poppy seed bagels and crunchy health bars to the list.

6. For a deep cleaning, remove all the keys. Before you do so, take a picture of the keyboard so you can remember where the keys go afterward. The guys over at Tech Zone have a step-by-step guide on how to do this. They suggest you don't take off the Shift, Spacebar, Enter and Backspace keys since they are hard to pop back on. Once you remove all the keys, soak them in a bowl of hot soapy water to remove dirt and oils. Dry them completely, and put them back on the keyboard. Here's a quick tutorial on how to clean the Apple keyboard.

7. There are ways for laptop owners to clean their keyboards too. Computing.net has a few suggestions, and eHow has some instructions on how to clean up laptop spills. This can be more complicated, so make sure you read the instructions first.

Before you start popping off keys and spraying keyboards, make sure you read any instructions thoroughly to avoid any mishaps. Got other suggestions? Share them in the comment section below. 

Useful links:

Weekend Project: Clean Up Your PC (Physically, I Mean)
How to Clean your LCD screen
Women's Work Areas Dirtier than Men's?