I’ve no idea how well this “LapTop Pro” dual keyboard and screen cleaner tool might actually work, but since I wage a weekly war on the cruft and gunk that gets on my keyboard—mostly skin oils, which is gross, I know, but that’s just the way it is—I have a soft spot for anything that aims to make my typing life easier. A wet wipe on the keys does a pretty good job on its own, even on the screen. (It’s probably leaving some residue on the screen, but I try to buy the ones that don’t have lotion, since I also use them on my bulldog’s face flaps, which are much more gross than any keyboard, let me assure you.)
Actually, $20—the price of the “LapTop Pro”—would buy a lot of wet wipes. I’ve just talked myself out of this. Carry on!
Anybody have any good cleaning keyboard and screen tips? I try to avoid all the “cleaning solutions.” I did a short blip for Popular Mechanics a few months ago about screen cleaning solutions for LCD panels and talked to some manufacturers. Turns out that stuff is almost exclusively just isopropyl alcohol diluted into water, about 2.5-5% to 95%.
Catalog Page [ScientificOnline.com via Red Ferret]
For cleaning dreck out of keyboards:-
1 – the quick way. I hold the keyboard upsidedown, then use a compressed air bottle and spray between the keys. This dislodges crumbs, etc, and gravity makes them fall out. A little shaking of the keyboard helps as well.
2 – the better way. Not sure if this is possible anymore. On older keyboards I used to unsnap the keys off the keyboard, clean things, and then snap them back on. Newer keyboards seem to not want to unsnap off, and I’m not worried about breaking my current one.
Oops, I meant, “I’m worried about breaking my current one.”
On my two year old Microsoft wireless keyboard, I was able to pop off the keys and clean up the gunk underneath. It was relatively easy.
Instead of using the wet wipes that are meant for your hands, head to the nearest optician and get a pack of pre-moistened lens cleaners. They won’t leave any residue and do a good job.
That plus a large (8″x8″) lint-free eyeglass cleaning cloth I snagged at a dollar store keeps all my screens clean. I put the lint-free cloth on top of my keyboard before I close the screen, to try and prevent the keyboard from leaving marks on the screen.
“use them on my bulldog’s face flaps…”
Ewwww! Just ewww!
I use a non-linting (is that a word?) microfibre cloth with a tiny dash of pure alcohol or gasoline. (When you do this, open a window and alert potential smokers in the vicinity.) Maybe window cleaner would work just as well, as it’s also made to evaporate quickly without leaving nasty residue. I disassemble a device for cleaning when possible. Sometimes that’s a bit tricky, but mostly it’s worth it. E.g. recently I disassembled my IntelliMouse; the amount of gunk that had been caught in its tilt-scroll-wheel was quite horrible, but removing all of it is no problem when you take the thing apart. When disassembly is not possible or I’m not brave enough for it (e.g. my iBook’s keyboard — you can take it out of the machine, but getting the keys off is something else), I resort to q-tips in lieu of the microfibre cloth, but those do leave fuzz, so there’s an area for improvement. (Suggestions, anyone?)
Apart from that, my method works really well, and USD 20 get you a litre of alcohol and a machine washable microfibre cloth; these will last you forever and you still have change for q-tips.
For cleaning the LCD panels, the best thing I’ve found is lint-free wipes and cleaning solution for eyeglasses that have an anti-glare coating.
i saw that you can actualy put your keyboard in the dishwasher, i heard about it on G4 once and you run it through the dishwasher and let it dry for a couple days and if your like me you have more than one keyboard and you can just keep them in a washing rotation
For screens try a moist cloth with a very small amount of Fairy Liquid. It gets rid of all the grease and then you just use another moist cloth to clean off any residue. The screen ends up looking like new, something i have never seen achied with any screen cleaner i have used.
My favorite trick for cleaning out laptop keyboards is using the a sticky note folded in half to fish out all the crud. It takes a few of them to get the job done properly, but I only have to do it twice a year or so. It’s kind of appalling how easily it pulls out a huge pile of crumbs and hair (not all of which is mine, ew).
I’ve been a big fan of the Klear Screen system for cleaning LCDs for years. It seems to be some weird thing that long-time Mac users know about but nobody else does; the cleaning cloths are nothing special (microfiber cloths like everyone else has suggested), but the cleaning fluid is alcohol-free, which is important, because alcohol will eventually fog or crack LCD screens. You can get it at most Apple Stores or online pretty easily.
I shower my logitec keybord and than let o air to get dry overnight.