Can You Clean a Keyboard in a Dishwasher?

1. Britt
   June 14th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

   I've been washing keyboards in the dishwasher for over ten years, man! Good times!

2. MrPumpernickel
   June 14th, 2007 at 4:05 pm

   It's not like it's such a big thing to pop the keys loose, wipe the remaining plastic and what's under the keys with disinfectant. The keys you just throw in warm water (just below what would burn your hands) with a bit of dishwashing liquid for an hour or so. The warm water and dishwashing liquid will literally eat away all the grime without you having to clean every key one by one. Rinse thoroughly and let dry properly, put the keys back and your keyboard is like new. Definitely a safer way to go by things as well.

3. Donovan
   June 14th, 2007 at 4:22 pm

   I too have done this, after dropping a full can of Diet Coke on a keyboard, some of the keys stopped working. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I threw it in the dishwasher, all the keys worked, except for the S key...

4. Billy
   June 14th, 2007 at 5:19 pm

   why only one key.. hit man urley they would all work??

5. John
   June 14th, 2007 at 6:38 pm

   Left over water in the keyboard when you plug it in is the real danger. I think popping off keys on some keyboards will result in more potential problems than washing the keyboard in the dishwasher. If you let it dry completely before you use it I can't see it being damaged unless water hides in some place that won't dry.

6. MrPumpernickel
   June 14th, 2007 at 6:57 pm

   Why'd you think that popping the keys off would cause more problems than the dishwasher? As long as you know where the keys go when putting them back there aren't really any issues, as long as you're careful. I haven't found a single keyboard on which the keys doesn't come off easy with a little coaxing from a dull table knife or letter opener. At least this way you're not exposing the electronics to water or high temperatures.

7. James Schend
   June 14th, 2007 at 11:59 pm

   I actually both pop the keys out (putting them in the silverware trays) and put the keyboard in the washer. I don't put in any soap, though, the jets of water are enough to get it clean. To prevent the keys from popping out of the silverware tray and getting all over, I cover them when a wetted washcloth-- this is heavy enough to keep them in place.

   When they come out, you have to give them at least 48 hours to dry, that's the main thing. Do not plug the keyboard in if it's not entirely 100% dry! (I have a 'backup keyboard', so this is what I use.)

   I have a white Apple keyboard that came with my G5 in 2002 I believe and it's been washed a half-dozen times. Still works perfectly fine.

8. Alex
   June 15th, 2007 at 1:40 am

   I just give up and buy a shiny new keyboard when the old one is busted and dirty!

9. Edward
   June 15th, 2007 at 4:55 am

   I be an engineer in the IBM plant where we made PCs in the eighties. Guess how we cleaned off everything before shipping? That's right, high pressure water that contained detergent?

   Guess what kind of soap our vendors used? No, that would be wrong. They used clothes washing soap. It was less harsh than dish washing soap.

   Your whole computer can be "washed" as long as it the last rince is done with DI or RO water and it is completely dry before being powered up.

10. Dave
    June 15th, 2007 at 10:09 am

    I've been doing the dishwasher trick with Apple keyboards since the early '90's. No soap; just hot water, on the top rack. I don't let it stay through the dry cycle though; I'll take it out, rinse it with distilled water & stand it on end to let it air dry for at least a day before plugging it back in.

    I'm using an Apple BlueTooth keyboard right now, and it's needing a good cleaning (why oh why have blazing white plastic on a keyboard?) I'm a little fearful of exposing it to the dishwasher though.

    Anybody ever use an oven to revive a hard drive that won't spin up? That trick works great also.

11. admin_papa
    August 29th, 2008 at 10:55 pm

    Hello Everybody

    Just wanted to share my new experience.

    If your system fails to run due to an error corresponding to missing HAL.DLL, invalid Boot.ini or any other critical system boot files you can fix this by using the XP installation CD. Simply boot from your XP Setup CD and enter the Recovery Console. Then launch "attrib -H -R -S" on the C:\Boot.ini file and delete it. Launch "Bootcfg /Rebuild" and then Fixboot

    Regards,
    Carl

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