15 May
2002
15 May
'02
4:57 p.m.
On May 15, 14:11, <pdp11(a)bellsouth.net> wrote:
removing
them. By using a good quality commercial spray cleaner sprayed on
a cloth, you can get them looking almost like new. If they were really
bad, I could see taking them off and soaking them.
> I'm going to clean a Sun 3 keyboard today. Its keycaps are filthy. The
> strategy I've used in the past for the keycaps is:
[...]
I have a
dishwasher, but I don't trust it.
I've had pretty good luck cleaning the caps on Sun keyboards without
The dishwasher would be a bad idea. You could easily end up with a bunch
of little
bits of melted plastic and a broken dishwasher.
I've done it with a bowl of warm water and the sort of low-foam detergent
used for cleaning floors, then a rinse. I've also done it with the sort of
spray cleaner used for kitchen worktops. Either way, many of the caps
usually need some rubbing with a cloth or fingers -- if they're dirty
enough to need cleaned, they need some help. I often add a little
water-based furniture polish at the end to help give them a nice sheen
I wouldn't use a dishwasher. The water temperature isn't a problem, but
the caps are just too small and light to stay where you put them, and if
one falls beside the heating element, it will be destroyed.
If I'm *really* lazy, I tie them up in a pillowcase and put them in the
(clothes) washing machine, and follow up with the tumble drier.
No.1 tip: make a note of the layout before you take the keycaps off. It
all looks very logical until you actually try to put *every one* of the
symbol keys back in the right place.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York