The 4-Step Guide to Properly Cleaning Your Gaming Keyboard

So, you’re a gamer. That probably means that you spend countless hours sitting in front of your desktop or laptop clicking away heads and winning that bread for your team! That said, whatever it is the game you play, the last thing you ever want to deal with is a keyboard that stops responding because some pieces of Cheetos you had the other day found its way under the keys. Do you know what this calls for? A cleaning session! To ensure that your pro-gamer skills aren’t hampered by your gaming keyboard’s inability to register any button you press, you need to make sure that it is clean at all times. 

That said, here’s how you can clean your gaming keyboard:

Step 1. Prepare the keyboard

Before you go about cleaning the keyboard, make sure to free it from any electrical source. This includes unplugging it from the desktop. If you have a wireless keyboard, try and remove the batteries if possible. If this isn’t possible as well, then just proceed to step 2 with extra care.

Also, some keyboards give you the ability to remove the keycaps, so if you can do that, this process becomes a whole lot easier. In other words, remove the keycaps if you can.

Step 2. Give it a good shake

With the keyboard ready, give it a good shake. Doing this will help loosen any particles behind the keys. Also, flip the keyboard upside down to allow any tiny debris to fall out. Remember to do this in every angle possible to remove as many loose particles as you can. Doing this will help make the cleaning process a lot easier.

Step 3. Blow the dirt out

Some of the dirt might be a little too packed inside, so shaking will not be able to get rid of it. For that, you will need to blow them out. Grab a can of compressed air or a blower if you have one. If you do not have any of these, you can easily purchase compressed air at a hardware store or order it online. Just note that if you do use a can of compressed air, do not turn the canister upside down. Doing so will cause water to spray out of the nozzle, something you do not want on your gaming keyboard’s components.

That said, with the can of compressed air, tilt the keyboard almost vertically and blow into keys. Do this while slowly moving left to right, making sure every part of the keyboard has been appropriately treated. If your canister comes with a straw, use that to get under their keys (if the keycaps aren’t removable).

Step 4. Clean the nooks and crannies

With more debris out, you can start scrubbing away with a cotton bud as well as some isopropyl alcohol. With it, you can rub away any hard-to-reach spots, as well as get rid of any stains or dirt that is stuck on the keyboard.

Once you are satisfied with that work, you can grab a microfiber cloth and spray a small amount of alcohol on it. With that, wipe down the entire keyboard, and give it a few minutes to completely dry out before connecting to your PC and continue your gaming session.

Conclusion

By carefully following the steps we’ve shared with you above, a gaming keyboard should be good as new—at least in terms of cleanliness. No longer will you find your keys somehow getting stuck every time you press it down, causing your unfortunate demise in your online competitive match. That said, all you need to worry about when cleaning is accidentally getting any liquid into the components of the keyboard, so be careful!

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