Posted on 3/23/2006, 1:41:57 PM by IndyTiger
My wife was complaining about her dirty keyboard at work the other day and the IT guy suggested putting the keyboard in the dishwasher! I looked it up on the web and it actually can be done...provided you put the keyboard on the top rack, do not use soap, and take the heat dry function off. Still a little uneasy about trying this, though, and would like to find out if other freepers have done this. Thanks!
Ummm... why not just buy a new keyboard. They are cheap.
You're kidding, right?
Seriously- don't.
Doc
Network Admin
Don't try this with your laptop.
Did it once at work. Worked, but we had a drying oven set for 125°F and let it thoroughly dry for a day...............
If it is so bad that you would try this, why not? The dishwasher should be done by the time you get back from the store with a new one.
National Semiconductor Corp's analog design guru Bob Pease suggests this for circuit boards and some other electronics. The boards can definitely survive, they make it through photoresist and etch without problem. But all the keys might trap water, so I'd want to turn the thing over several times to make sure it's really dry.
BTW, we had spilled an entire cup of hot chocolate in the keyboard............
I did see washable keyboards in the latest Cyberguys catalog.
You can use the top rack of the dishwasher to cook salmon, too.
Throw it away and buy a new one - they start at $10.
I've done it - no harm whatsoever. Don't let it go through the dry cycle. Air dry it.
My keyboard at work gets pretty gross after a while (gotta stop eating lunch at my desk). What I have done is actually pop the keys off the keyboard, and then shake out all the dust and crumbs and then wipe it clean. It helps if you layout the keys on a table in the way they are arranged on the keyboard so putting them back isn't a guessing game. Use a couple of water-dampened Q-Tips to get some of the heavier grime out. A cloth with a cleaner to clean the keys as you pop them back on should do the trick. Some of the larger keys (spacebar, shift) have a little metal bar that needs to be clipped in, but with a little patience, you should be able to do it no problem.
Yes....it works on laptop computers too, just make certain the top is open and on the top rack.......really...trust me...
Several decades ago I had a telephone get soaked in a basement flood of murky water. Phone wasn't working due to mud shorting out the innards, so I opened it up, flushed it out with a garden hose, and baked it dry at 140 degrees F. Phone worked great. This was one of the old phones with dial and mechanical bell.
Sure!
It works with Cell phones and TV remotes as well. The dishwasher will clean anything you put in it.
Doe some reason this reminds me of a story a friend once told me about his dad.
His dad had an encounter with some poison ivy, with the usual results. Some of his fraternity brothers convinced him that it was possible to become completely immune to poison ivy by picking a few leaves, putting them between two slices of white bread, and eating them.
He was in the hospital for a long time...
That being said, some only cost $4.99, like the one I'm using now, most are $9.99 so why bother???
I'd also have a backup keyboard ready just in case :-)
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