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#1
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
Hi All,
I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop. The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. I have tried rubbing alcohol and vinegar and nothing seems to clean it up. Any words of wisdom. -T |
#2
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On 9/14/2020 9:10 PM, T wrote:
Hi All, I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop.Â* The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. I have tried rubbing alcohol and vinegar and nothing seems to clean it up. Any words of wisdom. -T Try a soft cotton cloth soaked in a water/dish soap solution. Wring it out until almost dry and try that. When clean do it all over again with a clean damp rag to remove any leftover soap. Popsicle sticks help to get the rag down between the keys. Some plastic used in keyboards and other plastic PC components do discolor (usually get darker) when exposed long term to UV Light, as from the sun OR florescent lights. |
#3
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On 2020-09-14 20:51, GlowingBlueMist wrote:
On 9/14/2020 9:10 PM, T wrote: Hi All, I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop.Â* The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. I have tried rubbing alcohol and vinegar and nothing seems to clean it up. Any words of wisdom. -T Try a soft cotton cloth soaked in a water/dish soap solution.Â* Wring it out until almost dry and try that.Â* When clean do it all over again with a clean damp rag to remove any leftover soap.Â* Popsicle sticks help to get the rag down between the keys. Some plastic used in keyboards and other plastic PC components do discolor (usually get darker) when exposed long term to UV Light, as from the sun OR florescent lights. Spound liek a good start. The keys are not yellow. They are brown from year of dirt from my fingers |
#4
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On 15/09/2020 09:49, T wrote:
On 2020-09-14 20:51, GlowingBlueMist wrote: On 9/14/2020 9:10 PM, T wrote: Hi All, I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop.Â* The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. I have tried rubbing alcohol and vinegar and nothing seems to clean it up. Any words of wisdom. Did you try doing the same with a *fine* scouring pad, rather than a piece of cloth? I have seen furniture restorers use it to get surface dirt off wood and metal surfaces. (Make sure you try it on one key, before doing the rest. If ivory, it should not leave any scratch marks. If plastic, hope it is hard plastic.) -T Try a soft cotton cloth soaked in a water/dish soap solution.Â* Wring it out until almost dry and try that.Â* When clean do it all over again with a clean damp rag to remove any leftover soap.Â* Popsicle sticks help to get the rag down between the keys. Some plastic used in keyboards and other plastic PC components do discolor (usually get darker) when exposed long term to UV Light, as from the sun OR florescent lights. Spound liek a good start. The keys are not yellow.Â* They are brown from year of dirt from my fingers |
#5
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On Mon, 14 Sep 2020 19:10:22 -0700, T wrote:
Hi All, I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop. The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. I have tried rubbing alcohol and vinegar and nothing seems to clean it up. Any words of wisdom. -T Turn the board over and bang it with the flat of the hand to dislodge breadcrumbs and heavy dust. Then apply a suction with a vacuum cleaner. With this sort of thing then wipe with a cleaner which leaves no residue. 1/ Typically isoPropanol, Ethanol. diacetoneAlcohol. 2/ Typically ammonia, Detergents leave a residue. |
#6
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
T wrote:
Hi All, I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop.Â* The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. I have tried rubbing alcohol and vinegar and nothing seems to clean it up. Any words of wisdom. -T If the plastic is oxidized then the only way to get it white again is to remove the oxide layer. It's usually not worth the hassle of sandpaper, acetone, and sealer. But if it's just dirty then take it completely apart and soak the keys in a bowl of detergent and water for a few hours, then tooth brush and rinse clean. Clean the touch surface with iso alcohol. Clean the front and back plastic with detergent then dry all the parts off with your air compressor. I do that with my fav keyboard every few years. It must be near 20 years old now and still works and looks great. |
#7
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On Tue, 15 Sep 2020 00:43:00 -0500, Paul in Houston TX
wrote: T wrote: Hi All, I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop.* The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. I have tried rubbing alcohol and vinegar and nothing seems to clean it up. Any words of wisdom. -T If the plastic is oxidized then the only way to get it white again is to remove the oxide layer. It's usually not worth the hassle of sandpaper, acetone, and sealer. But if it's just dirty then take it completely apart and soak the keys in a bowl of detergent and water for a few hours, then tooth brush and rinse clean. Clean the touch surface with iso alcohol. Clean the front and back plastic with detergent then dry all the parts off with your air compressor. I do that with my fav keyboard every few years. It must be near 20 years old now and still works and looks great. That's exactly how I clean the keycaps of my IBM Model M keyboards. |
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
T wrote: I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop. The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. Search youtube for "retrobrite". |
#9
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On 9/15/20 2:30 AM, this is what Andy Burns wrote:
T wrote: I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop. The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. Search youtube for "retrobrite". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU7vXMezW_I |
#10
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On 2020-09-15 00:27, Big Al wrote:
On 9/15/20 2:30 AM, this is what Andy Burns wrote: T wrote: I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop. The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. Search youtube for "retrobrite". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU7vXMezW_I The keys are not yellow. They are brown with dirt from my fingers. I wonder if retrobrite would work on my car's headlight covers? |
#11
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On 2020-09-15 00:45, T wrote:
On 2020-09-15 00:27, Big Al wrote: On 9/15/20 2:30 AM, this is what Andy Burns wrote: T wrote: I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop. The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. Search youtube for "retrobrite". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU7vXMezW_I The keys are not yellow.Â*Â* They are brown with dirt from my fingers. I wonder if retrobrite would work on my car's headlight covers? It is hydrogen peroxide. I wonder how sodium percarbonate would work? It might leave a sodium carbonite residue |
#12
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
T wrote:
I wonder if retrobrite would work on my car's headlight covers? The only fix for cloudy lenses I see is progressively finer sanding/polishing and then re-coating with a UV filter |
#13
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On 2020-09-15 00:50, Andy Burns wrote:
T wrote: I wonder if retrobrite would work on my car's headlight covers? The only fix for cloudy lenses I see is progressively finer sanding/polishing and then re-coating with a UV filter I was afraid of that |
#14
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
On 9/15/2020 12:50 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
T wrote: I wonder if retrobrite would work on my car's headlight covers? The only fix for cloudy lenses I see is progressively finer sanding/polishing and then re-coating with a UV filter Or for many people, cataract surgery. -- Ken |
#15
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How to clean up a white keyboard?
T wrote:
Hi All, I have a old off white keyboard that adore in my shop. The keys are starting to look a bit nasty. I have tried rubbing alcohol and vinegar and nothing seems to clean it up. Any words of wisdom. -T Word of warning. "Too much cleaning equals broken keyboard" On my previous keyboard, I frequently took it apart at the membrane level, and washed things off. And cleaned the cover of stuff. Those kinds of operations seemed pretty innocuous (I wasn't "grinding on stuff"). Then one day, I decided to remove the key caps. And that caused enough damage that I had to bin it. Don't get so carried away cleaning it that you ruin it. Paul |
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