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Keyboards and How To Clean Them
The process of cleaning a keyboard after a cat threw up on it is slightly different than cleaning a keyboard after the cats knocked over the parakeet’s cage and his seed cup got dumped all over the keyboard.
So, if a cat throws up on your keyboard you want to take immediate action. If you have a spare keyboard in the house hook it up and unplug the messed up one. You don’t want to electrocute yourself. Said throw up is by definition wet. It’s also got stomach acid in it which will eventually eat away at the innards of your keyboard. Getting it cleaned off and dry are super important at this point. I speak from experience because I did not do a thorough job on my keyboard after it got thrown up on and it only lasted another 6 months.
How you can tell you didn’t do quite such a good job after the accident is when you press the letter “T” and get an “r” or an “7”.
Popping the keys
You need access to what is under your keys. They make special key pullers you can buy online for about $5. Or you can use two paperclips. Wiggle them down on opposite sides of the key and pull up. Not sideways. Pull up. It is helpful to have a sheet spread out around you because what will happen is that the key will suddenly give way and spring 3 feet into the air and land somewhere behind you never to be found again. At which point you will go on Ebay to purchase a letter “E”. That did happen to me. I found the “E” several months down the road sitting on a book in my bookcase. It might be helpful to throw a sheet over your head too. That way anything that wants to spring away won’t go farther than your makeshift tent.
So, be careful as you pull your key caps off. As a precaution you can arrange them as you pulled them off so that you know where they all go once you’ve got your keyboard cleaned. Or, better yet, take a picture of your keyboard before you start dismantling it.
There are springs underneath those key caps too. Be very careful. You want your cleaned up keyboard to have the same spring it had when it was working properly.
Underneath you will see a circuit board with throw up on it. You want to get that off. I used 409 and water. I’m thinking water is the better thing to use, but I’m not sure about that. If somebody who knows more…