Editing Keyboard cleaning (section)

==Bathing the keycaps ==

[[File:bathing_key_caps_001.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Bathing of two different types of vintage keycaps in a glass]]
[[File:bathing_key_caps_101.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Bathing keycaps with powder added]]

The easiest and best method is to bathe the keycaps, as long as you take the following things into account:

; Check the water!
: Be careful with temperatures and what you add to the water for cleaning! 30°C to 50°C should not damage plastic, as long as you can put your hand in it without pain, it shall be OK. Water that's too warm can deform the keys. Also, too much detergent can ruin the keys' printing or affect their colour.
; Don't scrub too hard!
: Be careful not to rub off the time stamps inside the keyboard shell or the printing from the keycaps. If you use good detergent, you generally won't need to scrub. Agitate your water-detergent-keycaps cocktail every 10 minutes by stirring with a large spoon (etc.), or by using a shaker. The keyboard's case can easily be cleaned with warm water, dishwashing liquid and a (non-metallic) brush, and dried with a towel. Use Q-Tips for small corners.
; Don't add bleach!
: Chlorine can fade plastics. If your keycaps are old and yellowed, bleach will ''not'' remove it—see [[Retr0bright]] instead.
; Keyboards aren't waterproof!
: Don't put your keyboard in the dishwasher (unless it is at least IP65 certified). If you've read or been told to do this, it's a myth! Not even a rubber-dome keyboard is guaranteed to survive this, as the warm water can rust and oxidize the internal electronics. If it doesn't kill the keyboard outright, it will almost certainly prevent it from operating properly.
; Never reattach wet key stems or caps to your keyboard! Be sure they are completely dry, including the small corners inside them (see below).

The use of a washing bag of mesh fabric can help to keep all keycaps together during washing, rinsing and drying. These can be purchased from stores that sell women's lingerie.

Denture cleaning tablets fizz and foam a lot above the water-level, so they would need to be used in a high-walled container. Denture cleaning tablets may not be suitable for sensitive plastics or prints as they often contain a small amount of bleach and an abrasive.

Cleaning keycaps with dishwasher powder (e.g. Somat) and denture cleaners have been tested and proven suitable. Please be extra careful with pre-1980s keycaps.

The following types of keycaps have been successfully cleaned with dishwasher powder (Somat):

*IBM Model F and Model M
*Cherry double-shot and sublimation-printed keycaps from the 1980s/'90s
*Key Tronic from the 1980s/'90s, both double-shot and printed
*Several different double-shot and printed Alps keys from the 1990s

NOT suitable:
*Keycaps of the programmable keyboard [[TheBoard]] (the one with the LCDs under some keys). These fade a bit.

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