racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

Last time, I wrote about how I protected my laptop’s palm rest and touchpad with frisket film. I mentioned in passing how avid laptop users buy (expensive) skins for their palmrest and keyboards, and these include the iSkin for Apple laptops, among other brand silicone or rubber skins.

Unfortunately, however, not all laptop models have skins that fit the keyboards. Also, I’m of the opinion that keyboards can stand the wear and tear of everyday use, and the best thing to do to maintain them is keep them clean regularly (yeah, that and both my laptops don’t have skins available for them). Besides, I like the feel of the keyboard beneath my fingers. Having silicone in between, no matter how thin, just ruins the sensual experience.

My one-year old Compaq Presario V2000 was almost made new again with the LCD assembly, lid and housing replacement. But the keyboard was still filthy and grimy.

The before image. Check out the grime to the left of the Z key.

So armed with some patience, an hour of free time, and some cleaning implements, I set out to clean up my laptop.

Computing.net and lifehacker have a few tips on cleaning your lappie’s keyboard, along with materials you can use, ranging from common household cleaning solutions to auto-detailing sprays/lubricants. Since I labored with cleaning my car’s exterior and interior the day before, I decided to use some auto interior cleaning implements.

For this, I used Armor All protectant and some soft cleaning cloth (the kind that comes in different colors, and which street vendors hawk at intersections).

Basically what I did was spray a liberal amount of cleaner/protectant to the cloth, and wipe each key thoroughly. I made sure to focus not only on the top surface, but also the edges of each key, where the grime usually accumulates. For the edges, cotton swabs come in very handy.

As the protectant’s packaging said to “avoid use on painted surfaces,” I had to make sure I didn’t apply it onto the laptop’s painted surface (which, on the V2000, meant all the silver colored parts).

Of course, these were done while the computer was turned off.

And the finished product:

Here’s the keyboard after cleaning.

Here’s the before cleaning image again. Compare.

As an alternative, you can use alcohol, or even water with mild soap. If you’re the meticulous kind, you can follow the computing.net link above and actually pry off each key for thorough cleaning. Desktop keyboards can easily be cleaned this way, and you can actually clean each key as if you were washing dishes.

Now keyboards tend to accumulate dust, food particles, hair and other such stuff in between the keys. If you have a can of compressed air, or a manually-pumped blower (a nebulizer compressor will do, actually–you know, those noisy things you use when you have asthma attacks!) you can use this to force out any dirt lodged beneath the keys.

You’ll feel great using a laptop that looks and feels new. Happy laptop computing!

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