They don't scratch. And no reasonable keyboard has
the lettering put on in
such a way that it would rub off in a washing machine. If that were the
case, the legending would rub off in normal use. Nearly all decent keys
are two-part moulded.
The best keyboards are... but some use silkscreening, and worse,
all the laptops I've seen in the last few years except for perhaps
the iBook abd the PowerBook (I'll check the Powerbook when I get
home) use decals... and yes, they sure do rub off from normal use.
Now, if lusers would wash the grease of their hands a few times
each day, those decals would stay in place a little longer...
-dq