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Dishwasher-safe Keyboard

A washable computer keyboard
  (+6, -1)
(+6, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

My keyboard is filthy. The lesser-used keys are encrusted with grime, and I don’t want to think about what would happen if I turned it upside-down.

Cleaning a keyboard by hand is tedious; I, therefore, propose a keyboard that can survive being washed in a dishwasher.

AO, Nov 21 2003

Sort of relevant http://www.industri...rproof_keyboard.htm
"Can be cleaned with household detergents" [half, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

Flexible keyboard http://www.modsyner...com/Review%2092.htm
A review for an inexpendsive, flexible, water-resistant keyboard [KLRico, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

Another Flexable Keyboard http://www.plycon.c...bd/flexkeyboard.htm
from Plycon [Letsbuildafort, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

(?) "Can a dishwasher clean a [sic] Apple Pro Keyboard?" http://homepage.mac...MovieTheater19.html
2.8MB Quicktime movie. [waugsqueke, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

Cleaning your keyboard http://computerhelp...1CleanKeyboard1.htm
"... make sure you put the keyboard on the top rack with it upside down (keys facing down). " [waugsqueke, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

You CAN put your keyboard in the dishwasher! http://plasticbugs.com/index.php?p=263
These guys have done it - and the keyboard still works!! [Flux, May 31 2005]

Dishwasher Safe Keyboards http://www.pcenclos...trial_Keyboard.html
These keyboards can be washed with high pressure jets, just like a car wash! So a dish washer is going to be fine. [PC enclosure man, Sep 08 2008]


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Annotation:







       You could just pull all the keys off, throw them in a mesh bag and let the washing machine do its thing... It worked with older keyboards anyway - I'm having no luck pulling them off today though...
luecke, Nov 21 2003
  

       Dishwasher safe keyboard "skins" would be simpler and solve the problem. But, I don't like typing on them.
half, Nov 21 2003
  

       those skins - if they made them more tight-fitting and perhaps vacuum packed in some way...
po, Nov 21 2003
  

       I clean the keycaps with a paper towel sprayed with a little bit of all purpose cleaner, plain water does a fair job. But it's tedious cleaning each key individually.   

       I guess I'd like to have a little robotic device that goes active with the screensaver and crawls about the keyboard employing it's wee brushes to scrub the gunk away and then dry the key cap. When interrupted, it would go immedately in to dry and retreat mode.
half, Nov 21 2003
  

       Those skins make the keyboard feel weird and mushy, and I think vacuum packing a keyboard would just mash all the keys down at once. Speaking of vacuums, the keyboard cleaning robot should have a tiny hoover for sucking up all those eyelashes and cookie crumbs that fall between the keys.
AO, Nov 21 2003
  

       Actually, you keyboard is probably already dishwasher safe*. I've washed my keyboard(s) in a sink plenty of times. Just use a cold water wash and make sure it's good and dry before plugging it back in.   

         

         

       *I accept no responsibility/liability for any actual damage.
phoenix, Nov 21 2003
  

       lueke -- I'm having no luck pulling them off today though   

       OK
DenholmRicshaw, Nov 21 2003
  

       Nice idea, although I'm rather fond of the keyboard cleaning spray we use at work which contains lots of isopropyl alcohol (my favourite solvent).
hazel, Nov 21 2003
  

       I know for a fact I have seen a flexible rubber keyboard at a Radio Shack store before. It was washable and could be rolled up for storage... Intresting product, only costs $25 USD. I found a link for it....
KLRico, Nov 21 2003
  

       $14.99 USD from Plycon
Letsbuildafort, Nov 21 2003
  

       phoenix, I’m glad to hear that keyboards can be sink-washed, I may give it a try, but I imagine getting it dry takes a little care. In the dishwasher-safe one there will be drainage holes so no water can collect inside. It will also need to survive very hot water, since my dishwasher doesn’t have a cold water option.
AO, Nov 21 2003
  

       This is the second time this week I've heard reference to putting a keyboard in the dishwasher. Two days ago someone at work mentioned he runs his keyboard through the dishwasher all the time, and has never had any problems.   

       I dunno. I'm not gonna try it.
waugsqueke, Nov 21 2003
  

       If keyboards are liquid-proof, how come mine died after being doused with coca-cola?
TeaTotal, Nov 21 2003
  

       New keyboards have a funny, solventy smell. By this I deduce that keyboards are at one point swimming in some sort of electronic solventy amniotic fluid. A warm bath of that same fluid might help free the keys from the years of accumulated [AO] sebum, without doing harm to the innards of the computer.   

       [AO], you might try applying the prinicples of mass action to this problem. If you start washing your hands such that your fingers are cleaner than the keys, filth will begin to move off the keys onto your hands. Eventually the board will be clean again.
bungston, Nov 21 2003
  

       [TeaTotal] The components can be damaged by electrical shorting, but the water itself shouldn't cause any damage.
phoenix, Nov 22 2003
  

       I've heard of the dishwasher trick being pulled with several different electronic items. In fact I'm sure that if you remove the cover old floppy drives can be washed and keyboards should be easier than floppy drives.
The only real problem I can see is oxidation if allowed to dry too slowly. Perhaps washing it in the dishwasher and then give it a nice dry off with a hair dryer? Kind of like taking it to the salon.
(would a manicure for your keyboard include repainting all the wore off letters on the keys?)
soundman, Nov 22 2003
  

       That has got to be a great idea. I can`t believe the amount of ...bogeys... that come out of the keyboards at work. Seems that some dirty so and so picks their nose at the workstations and grimes up the keyboard with filthy hands probably not washed in days. Ahh the gritty public sector, where would we be without it?
andrewuk, Nov 22 2003
  

       [andrewuk], you shouldn't talk about [AO] like that.
bungston, Nov 22 2003
  

       Hah - IP65 rated keyboards! (See link)   

       By the way, [pcenclosureman], your username sort of gives away the fact that your link is blatant advertising. It would have been more subtle to have called yourself just about anything else.   

       Look! Here come the mods now! And they've got splurge guns!
wagster, Sep 08 2008
  


 

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