How to Clean Your Computer Keyboard

You might think keeping your computer keyboard clean is hard, but the fact is with a little weekly maintenance you can keep it looking good and working properly.

Most of us eat while we are at the computer, we know we shouldn't but we still do it. Small crumbs, dust, and other particles get down into the keyboard under the keys and the easiest way to get them out is to turn the keyboard upside down and give it a good shake. You'll be surprised how much gets shaken out, you should do this daily. Don't be afraid you'll hurt the keyboard by doing this, it's more sturdy than you think.

Next thing you'll want to have on hand is a can of compressed air. You can find this at almost any office supply store. Using the compressed air to blow all the other small dust or food particles that don't fall out when you shake the keyboard upside down is the best thing to use.

Next thing you'll want to do is wipe down the keys, you should do this with your routine maintenance cleaning of the rest of the computer every week. Keeping the outside of the computer wiped down every week will make it easier to keep it clean in the long run. When you are dusting around the computer, spray a dry cloth with Windex and wipe the keys down. Again, make sure the computer is turned off and the keyboard is unplugged before doing this.

If the keys on your keyboard are really dirty and the Windex wipe doesn't get them clean enough, another product you can use is rubbing alcohol. Just apply it to your dry cloth and wipe the keys, this works well when they are particularly dirty. If you can't reach in between the keys, you can use a Q-Tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to get in those hard to reach spaces.

If the keys are really dirty and these techniques don't work, or your keyboard needs a better cleaning you can pop all the keys off with a flat head screw driver or butter knife and wash and dry them before popping them back on the keyboard. Let the keys completely dry before putting them back on. Just be sure to have some sort of reference as to where all the keys go when it comes time to put them back on.

Before starting any cleaning the thing most important to make sure is that the computer is turned off, and the keyboard is unplugged. You'll be pressing hard on the keys as you wipe them off and having the computer on with the keyboard plugged in may cause some problems for you.