How to clean your keyboard and keycaps: A step by step guide

Failing to keep a keyboard clean is a sin. Albeit one we’re probably all guilty of. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of room for excuses on this one as cleaning your keyboard is a really easy process. However, some people won’t know where to start, so we thought we’d write a quick step-by-step guide so you can keep your precious keyboard looking fresh and working well. First, however, is a list of what you’ll need.

• A gross keyboard
• Keycap puller (technically optional, we’ll explain later)
• Big bowl full of soapy water
• Paper towels (Q-Tips/earbuds work well, too)
• Isopropyl alcohol
• A brush
• Hair dryer (strictly optional, though it will speed things up)

Most of the detritus you’re about to remove from your keyboard will be inside, or at least obscured by the keycaps. So, to do anything more than a perfunctory job, we need to remove them.

If you’ve picked up the CORSAIR K70 PRO MINI WIRELESS or a K70 MAX, for example, then you’re in luck as they come with a keycap puller. To safely remove the keycaps, press the tool directly down onto the keycap until both sides catch under the edges of the cap. Now pull directly upwards to pull the keycap free from the switch.

Those of you with the wire-style keycap puller can simply pull the wires apart, press down until they loop under the keycap, and pull up as you would with the previous style of tool. If you don’t have any sort of keycap puller, you can lever them off with something like a guitar pick or a screwdriver. Although, this significantly increases the potential for scuffing, scratching, or denting the keycaps, especially with metal tools.

As with our guide on swapping out keyswitches, we strongly recommend taking a photo of the keyboard before doing this as memorizing where each key goes is not easy. If you can remember the layout of your keyboard off the top of your head, then chances are you won’t be needing this article, anyway.

That’s right, folks, wash them. Whether they’re PBT or ABS, your keycaps and the legends inscribed upon them are more than capable of surviving a quick swim. So, prepare a large bowl with hot (but not boiling) water mixed with normal dish soap. Use the biggest bowl you can find, too, as it will allow you to agitate the keycaps with reckless abandon without fear of launching water everywhere.

Once you’ve removed the keycaps, simply dump them into the water. Stir them around a bit and leave to soak while you get to work on the keyboard itself.

For this stage, simply brush away anything that can be brushed away. You can expect to find animal hair, your own hair, food crumbs, human crumbs, etc. This is where you’ll locate the grossest things likely to be in the keyboard. You can get keyboard-specific brushes for this, but the one that comes with your dustpan will be sufficient, so long as it’s reasonably clean. No sense using a brush that leaves more garbage than it removes.

This part becomes a lot easier if the keyboard has hot-swap switches as removing them allows you to have more access to the plate into which the switches are mounted, for example the K70 PRO MINI WIRELESS.

Either way, now’s the time to get the Isopropyl alcohol out. Fold over a corner of the paper towel, dip it in the alcohol, and wring out the excess. A great option here is to use Q-tips, as they allow you to get into the fiddly bits and are less likely to tear and leave fragments of paper on what is supposed to be a clean keyboard. Now start to wipe away the stuff that wasn’t removed with the brush. Dried liquids such as beer, whiskey, soup, and Pepsi are often the culprits here.

When the piece of towel or Q-tip you’re using gets grubby, find a clean piece and apply the alcohol in the same way. Rinse and repeat until the keyboard looks tidy. If there’s any part of the keyboard still damp with the booze, dab it up with a clean piece of paper towel.

At this point, drain the water from the keycaps and give them a look-over. Most of the grime will have been removed passively, but if there’s some caps that still seem gross, wipe them over with a piece of paper towel.

After you’re confident that the keycaps are clean, dump them all out onto some clean paper towels to soak up the additional liquid. If you’re a patient person, just leave them there for a while to air-dry, if you’re a gamer, feel free to ruffle the caps around in the paper towels to dry them faster. You can also use a hairdryer on low but beware of blowing the keycaps all over the place.

Of course, those of you with a rustic streak can do as our forefathers did when they cleaned their CORSAIR K70 PRO MINI WIRELESS, and simply hang the keys out to dry.

Once the keycaps have dried, you’re done with the cleaning section! Now reverse the instructions located in step 1 and return the keycaps to their original homes. If you removed the switches, too, then do that, and then return the caps. Now you’re free to get back to gaming, but be a bit more careful with the booze next time, yeah?