cleaning the keyboard/mouse
 

while the joy of a mac is in it's operating system, the curse is in them all being stark white.

maybe i use the internet too much when figuring out how to repair my bikes, but what do you guys use to safely clean gunk and grime off your sparkling white apple (or other) keyboards and mice? thanks!

Simple Green works great.

Don't dunk the thing in a bucket of it, obviously.

I use a small sponge and Q-tips on the appropriate parts.

Air dry or use compressed air.

I've always used isopropyl alcohol on a papertowel or Chlorox wipes. The isopropyl alcohol dries quickly and cleans well. Never tested either for removing chain gunk from a keyboard.

I dont know about the mac keyboards but i have taken a few microsoft ones apart in the past and they were all very simple inside. The keys came off all together without any electronics. so you could take that and wipe it down with a sponge and get it as wet as you want. below that was a rubber mat that the plastic keys came in contact with that basicly acted as the springs to pop the keys up also no electronics easy to shake off the dust. then dry it out real well with compressed air and throw it back together. Or.... go to new egg.com and buy yourself a new $10 keyboard if your happy with a plane basic white one.

That being said i highly suggest getting the microsoft egronomic keyboards for anyone thats considering getting a new keyboard. Put a end to my cronic wrist pains while typing.

For cleaning the white apple plastic I use those Magic Eraser sponges. Works wonders on my ibook!

I know exactly what you mean. My technique is kind of crazy, but first I turn the keyboard over, and give it a firm whack with my hand to get out as much of the loose crumbs/dust out. You can also use a vacuum w/ attachment to suck out the crumbs. Next I unplug the keyboard, and use the sprayer from the kitchen sink to clean out the keys. Sometimes what I'll do to speed up the drying process is turn the keyboard over, and use the sprayer to spray upwards, this way not a lot of water gets trapped into the bottom compartment. The only things that you probably don't want to do is maybe spray the usb ports, or plug it in while the keyboard is still wet.

To speed up the drying time, I probably suggest a hairdryer, or having the keyboard in a room with a portable heater turned on. Other ways, include drying it out in the sun, or putting it in a dry place for 2-3 days.

I try to go for black keyboards, looks nice alot longer.

IPA wipes work well, and then use duster afterwards to blow out the crap that falls between the keys.

I happen to work for a company that makes both IPA (alcohol) wipes and Duster (compressed canned air), so we use these quite a bit.

This is exactly what I did a few weeks ago. It takes a bit more time and requires being a bit (not really that much) more handy, but the results are definitely worth it. I usually just dunk it in a sink of soapy water and then run it under the tap to rinse the soap out. Air or blow dry, put it back together and you're good to go.