You’re my hero! I am writing this on my own beloved (and, I just realized, much too dirty) Tactile Pro, and I’m leaving town over the holidays. Headed downstairs right now to figure out how to turn off auto-dry!

A few months ago I managed to break one of the little feet on the keyboard. I went to the web site to see if replacement parts were available, but couldn’t find any. So I sent an e-mail using one of the contact forms.

They got in touch with me right away, and sent me 2 replacement feet at no charge.

Awesome. And now that I know I can clean this sucker in the dishwasher, all the better!

At a previous job, we used to clean office keyboards in the old dishwasher. It worked like a charm but I’ve never had the guts to do it again. I’m still not sure I will since the price of failure is so high, but thanks for the validation anyway!

The last time I cleaned my keyboard, I started by just flipping it over — causing about a teaspoon of what looked like human “Mrs. Dash” to sprinkle onto my desk. Chilling.

I really need to get a dishwasher.

Yes the dishwasher trick works wonders. But I got a little too impatient and tried to use a hair dryer to speed the process. This also worked wonders. But only momentarily. At first I thought I was getting dizzy, then I realized that it wasn’t my vision getting wobbly…THE KEYS WERE MELTING.

Interesting experiments. But consider the alternative: go ahead and buy a new keyboard after a few years of use. In addition to acquire all sorts of dirt over time the marking on the keycaps typically fades away on the most frequently used keys. A good keyboard should be no more than 20-30 bucks and you can get one for less than 5 bucks if the budget is tight. BTW, one of my USB sticks went trough a full heavy-duty cycle in the washing machine two years ago - and still works fine.

I actually just threw my keyboard in the dishwasher a few days ago. But my keyboard is made to be taken apart and thrown into a dishwasher. I have a Saitek Eclipse. Instead of the keys individually, They are all part of a a plastic plate. I’ll get some picture of it’s insides sometime later when I become less lazy.

I’m in the rinse cycle now, waiting for the results, and it just occurred to me to ask - this works with laptops, too, right?

I can’t believe you washed that Apple Bluetooth Keyboard successfully too. USB keyboards are one thing, but I can’t picture a little Bluetooth module being happy when wet. As I recall, the Apple Wireless Keyboard has little holes next to the battery springs that make it seem unlikely to be isolated enough from the water. Oh well, whatever works.

Of course this page can’t exist without a link to Coudal Partner’s “Shift Option Rinse” short: http://www.coudal.com/keywasher.php

Wow, what a great idea! Hey, this here Macbook is lookin’ a little grungy. The cat needs a bath too…

I love this site! I read it all the time!

Now that THAT’S out of the way… does anyone else have problems posting links to this site using the del.icio.us bookmarklet? It just does nothing, nothing at all — I’m bummed.

Is there some sort of 43foldery wizardry in place to disable del.icio.us? Are you in cahoots with ma.gnolia? What gives? ( =

I've washed many keyboards. I've also washed numerous circuit boards. The trick to getting them dry right away if you're impatient is to use compressed air. You need a compressor for this, not a spray-can.

Blow high-pressure (50-100psi) air into the device continuously until water stops coming out.

(Don't blame me if you don't get all the water out, though)

Although I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. I dropped my Canon Elph in the sandy salty ocean a few months back. It worked OK for a day, but I could hear grit in the mechanics when I turned it on and off. After a couple more days it just stopped working. Desperate, I took out the battery and rinsed it in cold tap water, then let it dry for, I dunno, 2 weeks?

Then, whaddya know, it worked.

A while back I removed all the keys from my keyboard and put them into this sack my wife had for laundry. (I guess you put smaller, delicate items in the bag to wash them) I put all the keys in the bag and put them in the dishwasher. It worked perfectly! I cleaned the rest of the keyboard manually and reassembled it.

Merlin, I feel for you not having a dishwasher I went 4 years without a dishwasher in my house, until I remodeled my kitchen. I sure love having one. Maybe you could try the laundry bag idea and use it in your clothes washer?

I thoroughly washed my PC in a shower once (motherboard, processor/cooler assembly, videocard/cooler assembly, power unit with cooler) and the case. Just get tired of all that dust, you know :) Takes a patience to wait till it’s dry (48 hours on radiator) 4 years passed, still working perfectly. Coolers are good too.

Don’t forget to take out BIOS battery!

I believe there is nothing wrong with water then stuff is unpowered.