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

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.

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.

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.

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".

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

"T" wrote

| 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.
|

Ammonia in warm water. Alcohol and vinegar are
very limited in their usefulness. Ammonia for general
cleaning and algae. Bleach for mildew. TSP in very
hot water for grime on woodwork, etc. (Wear gloves!)
Hydrogen peroxide for blood or protein-related stains.

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

I use isopropyl alcohol for that sort of work. Don't forget to vac all
the bits of rubbish away first.

Steve

--
http://www.npsnn.com

On 15/09/2020 03:10 am, 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

Can you clean a computer keyboard in a dishwasher?
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001242.htm

NB never tried it, but some people have!


--

Chris Elvidge, England