Cleaning Laptop Keyboard Like New

This will restore the keyboard to new, or better, performance. Laptop keyboards don’t wear out,
they foul out. Proper cleaning and lubrication as described here will restore your laptop keyboard
to the snappy and smooth performance it had when new. There are several reasons why the keys
will start to stick, spilled drinks, normal wearing off of the factory lubrication, weakening of the
rubber pieces which give each key its snap action, and contamination by dust and hair. The
following will completely solve these problems and return the keyboard to perfect operation.

This will require about 2 hours time once you have collected the proper cleaning materials.

 Cleaning materials:
 Cotton swabs
 Cosmetic foam rubber cleaning pads ( use only with naptha (lighter fluid), NOT alcohol)
 Paper towels
 Rubbing alcohol
 Water
 Lighter fluid (naptha)
 Fine tipped tweezers
 Scissors
 Kitchen strainer
 Household cleaner, Windex or equivalent
 Super Lube Dry Film spray (critical - DO NOT SUBSTUTUTE !) K-Mart automotive.
 This is a PTFE (teflon) based lubricant which dries perfectly DRY and is ideally suited
for this application.

Proceed as follows:

DISASSEMBLE

IMPORTANT: Make a keyboard map so you know where each key goes.
Carefully pry each key loose with a small screwdriver and place in a container. They pop off.
DO NOT use excessive force. There may be a small rubber piece for each key. Remove all of
these and place in a separate container. CAREFUL, these are small and like to jump away.

CLEAN KEYBOARD ( do this well...... you will be wonderfully rewarded )

Clean the keyboard with cotton swabs SLIGHTLY DAMPENED with water. Replace these

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often and BE SURE they are only slightly damp. If they are too wet the excess water will
contaminate the keyboard through capillary action. This will clean all water soluble
contaminants like Coca-Cola, coffee, and sugar residue. For the very small places, cut the foam
rubber into small pieces and use the tweezers, again SLIGHTLY DAMPENED, for cleaning.
You must clean each and every key space, inside and out, this is critical since this is where the
key touches and moves.
Repeat this procedure again using rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs but NOT the foam rubber as
it disintegrates when used with alcohol.
Finally repeat this procedure using naptha (lighter fluid) and foam rubber. You can clean even
the smallest key guides with small pieces of foam rubber and tweezers. This action will remove
any petroleum based contaminants as well as the grease that is sometimes used on the wider keys
which may have guide wires, for example, the SCACE BAR.

CLEAN KEYS

Some keys may have wires attached and some grease on them, clean these first with cotton
swabs and naptha (lighter fluid). Remove all traces of the grease.
Place all keys in a kitchen strainer. Spray with household cleaner and let stand for 5 minutes.
Rinse thoroughly with hot water and place keys on paper towels to dry. Let dry completely.

CLEAN RUBBER COMPONENTS

Place all rubber components in a kitchen strainer. Spray with household cleaner and let stand for
5 minutes. Use stopper in the sink so that you don?t lose these if they jump out of the strainer.
Rinse these thoroughly with hot water and place on paper towels. Fold the towels over and press
to squeeze most of the water out of the pieces. Let dry completely.

LUBRICATE KEYS

Place all keys bottom-up on a paper bag. Lightly coat the keys, at a 45 degree angle with Super
Lube Dry Film lubricant. Do this from all 4 sides to assure penetration and coverage into the
small and critical guide spaces inside each key. Let dry ( this happens nearly instantly). DO NOT
overdue this step as the carrier solvent may affect the plastic.

LUBRICATE KEYBOARD

Mask off the laptop with paper and scotch tape. Apply lubricant (as above in LUBRICATE
KEYS) to the keyboard and let dry.
All right, you now have perfectly cleaned and lubricated keys, keyboard, and rubber
components.

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REASSEMBLE

Place all rubber components into the keyboard.

Install keys with wires. Make sure wire is secured in the key, usually snapped into place. Place
ends of wire in the guide slots adjacent to the key location as you align the key. Firmly press
down to snap the key into place.
Install the rest of the keys by aligning and firmly pressing down.

Laptop Keyboard Not Working

Laptop keyboards are a little more delicate than keyboards used in desktop computers. Hence
they face more problems. Normally, laptop keyboards are replaced when they render defective.
However, most of these laptop keyboard not working issues can be taken care of or even
prevented by regular cleaning. Common issues like, keys not working on your keyboard, having
to press keys firmly to get the output or any laptop keyboard typing issues, can easily be handled
at home. Instructions to solve these laptop keyboard problems are given below.

Problem #1 - My Laptop Keyboard Keys Not Working

Sometimes you may find certain keys of your laptop keyboard not working properly. You type
those keys but there is no output on the screen or you need to press these keys firmly to get a
result. You face this problem if you accidentally spill any liquid substance on your keyboard, or
due to dust accumulating on the inside of the keys, pressing certain keys really hard while
playing games or even due to absence of lubrication. Therefore you are suppose to maintain your
laptop keyboard by cleaning and lubricating it regularly.

Troubleshooting Steps

1. To start with, take out each key out from the laptop keyboard. Use a small screwdriver to
carefully pry each key by making it loose. As they become loose, keys will simply pop
off. Also, take out the rubber piece present under every key. Keep the keys and rubber
pieces in different containers.
2. Once you have removed all keys from the keyboard, you will have to clean the keyboard
from the inside. Use cotton swabs or ear bubs and slightly dip them in water. Avoid
getting them too moist, as excess water can damage the keyboard. Meticulously clean the
whole keyboard using moist cotton swabs, laying extra emphasis on key spaces.
3. Now, start cleaning keys you had earlier removed and kept in the container. Use foam
rubber and lighter fluid to clean each key alone. This will help in removing any sticky
substance present on keys. Apply any household cleaner on these keys and let them stay
for about 15 minutes. After this, wash all the keys properly using hot water and let the
keys dry completely.
4. The small rubber pieces which you took out earlier and kept in the container have to be
thoroughly rinsed in warm water, after you have sprayed a household cleaner on them.
Soak these rubber pieces up in paper napkins so that they dry quickly.

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 5. To lubricate the keys, place all keys (facing top-down) on a flat surface. Apply mild
lubricant from all sides, on all keys and leave them to dry. Avoid applying too much
lubricant instead go for a light coat.
6. Similar to the manner in which you lubricated the keys, apply mild lubricant on the
keyboard surface and let it dry.
7. Once you have cleaned and lubricated all the parts, carefully reassemble the laptop
keyboard. Begin with placing all rubber components on the keyboard. Next, fix all keys
in their respective positions cautiously securing the wire in these keys. Use your finger
and press down all keys, one at a time, firmly so that they fit properly in the slots. That is
it.

The complete process will take you a maximum of 2 hours. Cleaning and lubricating the laptop
keyboard in the above prescribed manner once a year, can prevent many 'laptop keyboard not
working' situations.

Problem#2 - My Laptop Keyboard Types Wrong Characters

When your laptop keyboard types wrong characters, it is because of a software problem and not
a hardware one. If you accidentally press specific keys on your keyboard, it can activate a
particular function responsible for the problem.

Troubleshooting Steps

1. Select the control panel option

Click on → 'Regional and Language Services' → 'Languages' → 'Details' → 'Key

Settings'

2. Choose the option 'Switch Between Input Languages' and click on 'Change Key
Sequence'
3. Make sure that all the check boxes in the window are unchecked and repeat the same for
'Switch to..... (Keyboard Type)'
4. Click →'Ok' → 'Ok' → 'Apply' → 'Ok'.

Problem#3 - My Laptop Keyboard Types Numbers Instead of Letters

This is another laptop keyboard problem due to some software issue. It is possible you may have
enabled a digital lock unknowingly.

Troubleshooting Steps

Pressing the 'Function' key along with the 'Num lock' key (Fn + Numlock) or press the 'Function'
Key along with the 'Shift' and 'Num Lock' key (Fn +Shift + NumLock). This will disable the lock
and consequently solve your problem.