Laptop keyboard
A horizontal grid of openings directly above the electronics. Every cleaning instruction for it is really an instruction about keeping liquid out.
What not to do
Sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) is unsafe on Laptop keyboard
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Named on the manufacturer's prohibited list. Bleach on a keyboard is not a stronger version of the approved method; it is on the list of things that damage the product.
Why we say this
Supported
A manufacturer prohibition on its own product, stated by name.
Sources
Guidance for Keeping Your Dell Technologies Equipment Clean
Dell Technologies · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That bleach and chlorine-based cleaners are among the named substances that must not be used on the equipment. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The preparation, solution, prohibition and drying instructions. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Ammonia is unsafe on Laptop keyboard
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Which rules out ordinary window cleaner, the most common thing reached for when a screen or keyboard looks smeared.
Why we say this
Supported
A manufacturer prohibition stated by name, with the consumer product it rules out named too.
Sources
Guidance for Keeping Your Dell Technologies Equipment Clean
Dell Technologies · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That ammonia is among the named prohibited substances, and that glass cleaning products containing ammonia must be avoided on display surfaces. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The preparation, solution, prohibition and drying instructions. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Hydrogen peroxide is unsafe on Laptop keyboard
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Why we say this
Supported
A manufacturer prohibition on its own product, stated by name.
Sources
Guidance for Keeping Your Dell Technologies Equipment Clean
Dell Technologies · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That hydrogen peroxide and other peroxides are among the named substances that must not be used on the equipment. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The preparation, solution, prohibition and drying instructions. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Precautions
- Disconnect from the power supply first
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
In detail
A keyboard is the part of a computer most people want to clean and the part where doing it wrong costs most, for a reason of geometry rather than chemistry: it is a horizontal surface full of gaps sitting directly above the components. Anything applied to it wetter than damp has somewhere to go, and that somewhere is the inside. The manufacturer instructions are correspondingly narrow. Power off and disconnect from the mains first, and remove the batteries from a wireless keyboard. Use a microfibre cloth — the guidance read here states that any other material could damage the product. Where a cleaning solution is used, the approved one is 70% isopropyl alcohol with 30% water, applied to the cloth so it is damp but not dripping. Liquid is never sprayed onto the keyboard. Nothing may drip into the keys. And the surface must air dry, with no visible moisture, before power is restored. What CleaningHQ deliberately does not carry is a method for what is UNDER the keys, or for a keyboard that has had liquid spilled into it. That is a repair question, and treating it as cleaning is how a recoverable machine becomes an unrecoverable one.
What works
Isopropyl alcohol is safe on, in specific conditions, Laptop keyboard
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, CleaningHQ makes no claim.
Only within these limits:
- 70% isopropyl alcohol with 30% water, and no other concentration is given
- applied to a microfibre cloth, damp but not dripping — never sprayed onto the device
- device powered off and disconnected from the mains, batteries out of wireless keyboards
- no moisture allowed to drip into the keys
- air dried with no visible moisture before power is restored
The manufacturer notes that even correct cleaning by this method may produce visible cosmetic changes to some finishes over time.
Precautions
- Disconnect from the power supply first
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
Why we say this
Supported
One manufacturer's approval for its own equipment. Carried with every condition attached, because on this substrate the conditions are the safety rather than decoration on it.
Sources
Guidance for Keeping Your Dell Technologies Equipment Clean
Dell Technologies · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the approved solution is 70% isopropyl alcohol with 30% water on a microfibre cloth that is damp but not dripping, that liquid is never sprayed directly onto the product, that the device is powered off and disconnected first, and that surfaces must air dry before power is restored. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The preparation, solution, prohibition and drying instructions. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Why
- Laptop keyboard is explained by Moisture and electrical appliances
Hacks and claims involving this
- Spraying cleaner onto a screen or keyboard Does not work
Sources for this page
Sources
Guidance for Keeping Your Dell Technologies Equipment Clean
Dell Technologies · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the device is powered off and disconnected and wireless keyboard batteries removed, that only a microfibre cloth is used, that 70% isopropyl alcohol with 30% water on a damp not dripping cloth is the approved solution, that liquid is never sprayed directly onto the product, that moisture must not be allowed to drip into keyboards, and that surfaces must air dry before the device is powered. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The preparation, solution, prohibition and drying instructions. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .