Pro tip: I stopped using canned air on my laptop keyboard after a friend pointed out the obvious

For years, I'd blast my laptop keys with that canned air to get rid of crumbs and dust. I figured it was the best way. Then my friend, who fixes phones on the side, watched me do it and just said, 'You know you're just pushing that junk deeper inside, right?' I felt so dumb. He showed me how to gently pop the keycaps off my old spare keyboard with a plastic spudger, clean under them with a soft brush, and then put them back. It took maybe twenty minutes total and the difference was huge. I had no idea how much gunk was actually stuck under there. Now I do a proper key pull clean every few months instead of just spraying stuff around. Has anyone else found a better tool than a basic spudger for getting keys off without breaking the little clips?

3 comments

3 Comments

leo_murphy18d ago

Oh man, that reminds me of when I tried to clean my old mechanical keyboard with a vacuum. Big mistake. The suction yanked a couple of keycaps right off and snapped one of the plastic stems. I had to order a whole replacement set from some sketchy website and wait three weeks.

gavin_reed18d ago

Ugh, I did the exact same thing with my old work keyboard. Vacuum cleaner took out the whole number row, left little plastic bits everywhere. Ended up using a wireless one with missing keys for a month like some kind of animal.

fiona_lane1d ago

Imagine trying to type numbers with a calculator nearby.