I love all things Mac. We’ve established this several times so far in this blog.
What I do not love about Macs is the way the white keyboards they send with our computers are so gorgeous when you first receive them and get so…gunky…after a while. You know what I mean: those unsightly discolorations that appear even when the user is a compulsive handwasher.
This is one of those low -grade annoyances that I’m always telling people they should take five minutes to tackle and they’ll feel so much better.
I’d tried wiping down my keyboard with a wet cloth and a wet paper towel, both to no avail. The dirt stains remained.
I finally decided enough was enough. I went hunting around online and found two pieces of prevailing wisdom. One failed miserably, one succeeded brilliantly.
What did NOT work:
Several helpful bloggers said that you could get rid of the stains by using a pencil eraser. Uh uh. Tried it. Just made a bigger mess with all the eraser crap. Stains remained.
What DID work:
The second tip I found in several places (the best post was here) was to use Glass Plus Wipes. I didn’t have any on hand, so tried a paper towel moistened with glass cleaner. Worked like a freaking charm! In no time, my keys were sparkling white again.
I then got all Penelope and ran to grab a Q-tip, sprayed some glass cleaner on that and went in between the keys.
Perfection! I hummed for the rest of my work day, grinning madly at my gorgeous new keyboard. Doesn’t take much to make me happy, does it?
Penelope Tip: One reason I hadn’t done more experimenting with ways to accomplish this tiny task was because I kept thinking I needed to do it before I turned my computer on in the morning, or after I turned it off at night. Never happened.
So, I tried this clever little app that allows you to go into “cleaning mode” while your computer is still on, making it safe to clean your keyboard without sending your machine into fits of strange typing. Genius!
Color this Penelope happy.
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Have I told you how much I love you? LOL. I have the MacBook Pro, so my key are black; however, they are silver in-between and still have white letters that tend to get dingy as well. I usually take a Q-tip (or ten) and dampen it/them with alcohol to clean between the keys. I have to shut down for this, but with this new app., I don’t! hubs’s desktop is a pc so the keys are black with white letters like mine. Don’t think that I won’t take a Clorox Clean-up Wipe to those suckers – it’s like night & day!
Rubbing Alcohol and a q-tip works, too. Or Mrs. Meyer’s all-purpose cleaner. Our old Mac has a white keyboard with a see-through surround. I haven’t figured out how to get all of the dust, crumbs, and other crud that has accumulated there, slipping between the keys! It’s like an archeological artifact showing every snack my teens have consumed over the past 5 years while watching youtube clips… sigh.
Love your website- so helpful and cheerful!
Isnt this just the kind of project that makes you happy?
@Lisa K: I know just what you mean. I think the only way to clean that keyboard surround is to get a teeny tiny screwdriver and take the back off and get in there.
If you decide to perform surgery on your keyboard, take before and after photos and email them to me. I’ll do a post about your War Against The Crumb!
These are great tips! Thank you. Who knew. And so nice when someone does the leg work of figuring these things out FOR me. (ps I too am mac obsessed. Really coveting the iphone!!!!)
Wow, who would have thought! Just used your tips and now my keyboard feels so smooth, thanks!
Good tip. My keyboard does drive me crazy.
Thabj you! This is a fantastic tip.
great tip. my board is ready for a spring clean as well. will try this NOW!!
Haha, it is the little things! My keyboard (and where my hands rest) are in desperate need of a cleaning.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Montana
http://pianotutorial.net
THANKS! I can never get my keyboard clean enough but now with your tricks/hints, I can have a “new” keyboard again!
I’m with the crumb people. I just spent five minutes knocking and tapping (pounding) and trying to clear out the best I could.
Thanks! Re: War against the crumb….here’s a simple tip for *deep* cleaning that keyboard: take a post-it note and slip the sticky side in between the keys and slide, slide, slide. You’ll be surprised at what you pick up! I think I read this tip in Real Simple some time ago : )
Oh, Lisa! Great tip for de-crumbing!
i’ll be linking to this post during my next mac monday. right now my mac keyboard has pink nail polish and a nice layer of grime…
You post informative articles, bookmarked for future referrence !
Beautify up your feel or regress added’s mate
Thank you! Now I won’t be embarrassed by my keyboard.
wow – the little things in life make me happy too! This worked like a charm and my keyboard hasn’t looked this shiny in a long long time. Thank you, thank you!
I was wondering if you ever thought about changing the layout of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a slight more in the way of content so habitancy could associate with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?
THANK YOU! I was getting grossed out looking at the icky keys when I know they can be a beautiful white. PLUS, i used the method brand so i’m left with a nice minty smell on my keyboard.