I recently obtained a TVS Gold Mechanical Keyboard with Mechanical Cherry MX Blue Key switches that go ‘Click’. I had to retire my old Logitech Desktop keyboard, which still functioned perfectly even after 7 years of no cleaning whatsoever. I decided that it at least deserved a wash before I packed it away. The keyboard was caked with years of dust, food, dirt, hair etc.

In my first attempt, I used soap water with a brush. It was effective in cleaning only the outer buttons and not the dust accumulated beneath them.

That was not enough. I then separated every individual key from the keyboard and manually brushed it using soapy water:

The base of the Keyboard, which cradled the keys was the most dirtiest of them all:

I thought brushing the keyboard with soap water would clean it. But a complete bathtub treatment for two days was what was really required:

Keeping it in the bucket for 2 days straight, cleaned the base thoroughly. I finally put it in a plastic bag and stored it away in the cardboard box my new keyboard came in.

I did not have time to take pictures of the keyboard after it was cleaned, these are photos that I took just now. I have blanked out the keys in an attempt to copy the Das Keyboard Ultimate. I used a permanent marker which seems to have worn off with continued use. Here’s pictures of the clean keyboard, almost a month after the cleaning:

Kept in bowls to prevent them from getting lost.