Question for iGary or another Mac expert

Don't even go there sister!

I have lost two keyboards after giving up and giving it the water treatment.

I bought some conatct cleaner from maplins and wiped over the keyboard with paper towels, but other than that I can't recommend anything else, but the water thing really did not work for me!

Not recommended. I tried this as I had done it sucessfully with older Mac keboards. Couldn't get it to dry out properly and so some keys were permanently on i.e. the Caps Lock. Eventually had to dismantle the thing to dry it out and found to my dismay that its far more complex than the older keyboards. Each key has a small rubber cup/cushion underneath and they all come out on dismantling. Reassembly is a nightmare as you have to get 100-odd of these little cups balanced in position before clamping the whole thing together again. took a few tries but I did manage it. wouldn't want to do it again.

I'd go down Maplins and get a can of compressed air and a can of foam cleaner.. wonderful stuff.. cleans off gunk that you'd swear couldn't be shifted.

I suspect the water thing is true, so long as you can guarantee that it's bone dry before trying to use it again.. and you probably can't.

cheers,
Paul

An old toothbrush used through a damp thin blue microfibre cloth [those ones in supermarkets that are something like £2.90 and always have a small group of the outraged elderly gathered round them saying,'Hoooowwww much???? ....For a duster?!!!']does the trick, especially if the cloth is moistened with something orangey, like Mr Muscle Orange Action. At least it does for the filthiest PC keyboards, and I can't see why Cupertino variants should be any different. Damp rather than wet, mind.

throb
[How Clean is Your Mouse?]

Thanks for the question and the answers - my keyboard is looking as if there could be a new life form starting to emerge in the compost under the keys

Somewhere in the many Mac accesssory sites or publications I saw and article on a USB powered vacuum cleaner for the keyboard

I have found it - Page 53 in November's Macworld

Vacuum cleaner made by Oy-Oy

www.oy-oy.co.uk

Derek

<< >>

My keyboard is still pretty clean since it's new and I'm not a slob. But some newsprint marks that turned up on few keys were cleaned easily enough with a product called the Mister Clean Magic Eraser.

If it's available in the UK, give it a try. Look for a box with a picture Jean-Luc Picard wearing an earring -- or maybe it's a gay sailor with an earring, I dunno. Anyway, should be in the cleaning supplies aisle of any grocery store.

Joe

Gosh Joe, you how come you have all the hunky cleaning guys over there? - and you have the Brawny Man to fantasise over as well...

http://www.brawnyman.com/products.html [and check those ads, particularly 'Romantic Dinner'!]

Sadly, Mr Clean & Brawny Man have yet to make it to our shores [although there's something about Mr Clean that is naggingly familiar, and Im sure I might have met Brawny Man twenty years ago, when plaids were all the go in certain bars] .... the only guys we have here are Mr Muscle [skinny nerd in badly fitting shorts who like drains] and Mr Sheen [strange character with a handlebar moustache who flies around in a Sopwith Camel and obsesses about dust - never an attractive quality]. No comparison, really.

throb

[and yes, Rasher - this is gay humour -well, my sad version of it anyway]

throb,

quote:

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Mr Sheen [strange character with a handlebar moustache who flies around in a Sopwith Camel and obsesses about dust - never an attractive quality

---

Is this Mr. Sheen related to the Red Baron, the rather Tom Selleck-ish frozen pizza magnate and object of desire not only of gay men but also of busy mothers throughout the land?

(Sorry, that's the best I could do.)

Joe

I think Mr Sheen might be a Red Baron wannabee, but as you can see from this:

http://www.visit4info.com/static/advertiser_pages/MrSheen.cfm?return_page=com_r.cfm

he's past it. [best site I could find, which seems to show that it's a brand in decline]

throb

quote:

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I suspect the water thing is true, so long as you can _guarantee_ that it's bone dry before trying to use it again.. and you probably can't.

Paul

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It has been suggested to me that this can be achieved if you use a dishwasher. Please note I have NOT tried this for myself!

duncan

Email: djcritchley at hotmail.com

DONT do the water thing. They are membrane switches, at least one of them will not be the same again - guaranteed.

Take a photo of the keyboard, then pull off the keys and stick them in a pillow case in the washing machine with the rugby kit. Meanwhile, vacuum or wipe out the tray. Dry, reassemble, drink beer.