Greasy keyboard, your tips and tricks.

[PP Mguire]

Ok so I know there has to be some super OCD guys on here like myself who can't stand the feel or nastiness of greasy peripherals. One such issue for me has been a very greasy keyboard since I have the Lycosa Mirror. With the ****ty lighting situation in my room the smudge marks on the glossy black plastic hasn't been an issue, but simply straight up hand grease has. Now, I'm super clean, wash my hands several times a day in between showers, never use my periphs immediately after eating, move my keyboard out of the way while eating (I have to eat at my desk or stand in the kitchen), and clean my stuff on a regular basis. Usually every 2 days or as needed.

Well I use a 50/50 distilled/isopropyl solution in a spray bottle with clean microfiber rags to clean my stuff. I use the same solution with qtips to clean fans to make them look new after taking the vac to them. This has worked literally for years on any keyboard I've ever owned, and even this one until very recently. When I eat greasy foods, I unplug my keyboard and move it out of the way and use a paper towel or napkin instead of physically touching the food (for instance, pizza). For some reason, my keyboard has been grease city the past couple of days after eating. Any ideas? My routine literally is, move keyboard, get food, sit down, eat, go wash off play/utensil, wash hands, plug keyboard back in, continue task. Couple days ago I ate pizza (with the napkin), washed my plate off, washed my hands, came back here and tried typing and was immediately disgusted. When I tilted my head towards the keyboard I could literally see the grease marks from my thumbs on my spacebar like I just barehanded pizza and then typed. I just basically did the same thing, cleaned my keyboard, washed my hands, came back, and the feeling is the same.

Any ideas? Any different tips? I personally feel I go above and beyond to keep a clean keyboard and to not have that greasy feeling but this is really getting on my nerves. I seriously cannot type on this keyboard when it feels this way and I'm guessing my solution isn't cutting it anymore. For anybody wondering, I'm typing with my K400r right now.

Edit: I've considered sweating to be an issue but I keep the ambient pretty chilly in here to reduce that. Not only that, but it doesn't explain where the grease magically comes from.

 

[Oreo]

You are trying to resolve the effect and not the problem... the problem is greasy hands, the effect is greasy peripherals. Not trying to troll, but just clean your hands way more often with hot water and soap and I bet stuff doesn't end up so greasy.

I must be weird or something because my hands don't get greasy. Even touch tablets and phones don't seem to get greasy screens in my hands i'm a freak of nature

 

[PP Mguire]

You are trying to resolve the effect and not the problem... the problem is greasy hands, the effect is greasy peripherals. Not trying to troll, but just clean your hands way more often with hot water and soap and I bet stuff doesn't end up so greasy.

I must be weird or something because my hands don't get greasy. Even touch tablets and phones don't seem to get greasy screens in my hands i'm a freak of nature

I'm guessing you didn't really read what I typed and just assumed. I wash my hands probably about 10 times a day due to the fact that I hate having nasty hands and I have a child. When you change a diaper, you wash your hands. I have a Lysol soap auto-dispenser and I've also tried using anti-bacterial hand sanitizer after washing to alleviate the issue. It doesn't.

Also doesn't exactly explain why the issue has recently popped up within the last week or so.

 

[Trotter]

Have you tried keeping hand wipes at your desk? As long as it has alcohol in it then it should cut the grease and get your hands clean before you touch the keyboard/mouse.

 

[PP Mguire]

No, but that's essentially the same thing as washing my hands pretty much after doing anything. And I'm one of those people that stand there about 5 minutes to make sure my hands are nice and clean. Also during cleaning of my keyboard I have just sprayed my hands directly with my alcohol solution and besides drying my hands up real bad it doesn't seem to help.

After looking at the humidity levels and dewpoint the past week, I think I found the culprit. I hope anyways.

Edit: So when we were super poor and had nobody to help us we were making our own baby wipes. I think I'm going to use the same concept and just make my own alcohol hand wipes and see if that works.

 

[Oreo]

I'm guessing you didn't really read what I typed and just assumed. I wash my hands probably about 10 times a day due to the fact that I hate having nasty hands and I have a child. When you change a diaper, you wash your hands. I have a Lysol soap auto-dispenser and I've also tried using anti-bacterial hand sanitizer after washing to alleviate the issue. It doesn't.

Also doesn't exactly explain why the issue has recently popped up within the last week or so.

I read most of it. and now I read all of it.

Skin oils surely don't release from your skin in the time between washing your hands and touching something 30 seconds later, otherwise the stuff would literally be dripping off you. Problem with grease is you need really hot water and strong washing up liquid to get rid of it. I'm not seriously suggesting you use really hot water and loads of washing up liquid to wash your hands 20 times a day, but just for the sake of trying, seriously clean the **** out of your hands with burning hot water and washing up liquid - or even a degreaser like Swarfega (Dunno if you have that over there, i'm sure you have an equivalent) And then see if you leave greasy finger prints on your phone or something.

Halfords | Swarfega Rapid Hand Cleaner 'Original' 450ml




As for cleaning it, Nail Polish Remover ? Methalated spirits ? White Spirit ? Vodka ? Anti-freeze ?

I don't really know how good ethanol based stuff is at attacking grease. Maybe try making up a concentrated water based solution using that Swarfega stuff (maybe like 20% US equivalent of Swarfega, 80% water) and soak it into some cotton wool.

 

[PP Mguire]

Since I do the dishes and have done them for years, I'm used to scalding hot water. Pretty much whenever I wash my hands, I turn the hot water on and wash my hands under it never using the cold water.

As for cleaning the keyboard, my solution works well and has for everything for a really long time. After I clean it, it looks brand new. You can see no residue on it, the way it's supposed to be. I mean I cleaned it, took a shower, and for a while it felt fine and now it's starting to feel greasy already. I haven't touched anything in the past 45 minutes. Not my phone, tea glass, nothing. I've sat here watching Youtube videos.

I'm pretty sure using any of the things you just suggested could damage my keyboard, or at least the finish. I've just decided that I'm going to just use the K400r for now. It doesn't have this glossy plastic clear coat finish to it and when I'm having the greasy tacky feeling on my keyboard I switch to it and I feel fine, and can type for hours without issue. I'm starting to think it's a combination of a bunch of chemical reactions taking place by different things on my hands and the plastic because so much has started to change this week. Our water has started to have that sulfur smell that I used to gag at in the house I grew up in, it rained for 2 days straight this week, the season is finally changing with the first major cold front (causing the rain), the humidity has been around the 85% since the rain left, we switched soaps in the bathroom container, and I've started to notice my body wash is giving me a negative effect causing my face to feel extra oily. No doubt my hands are probably doing the same thing.

Had to Google Swarfega, I forgot to mention in my first post I've used Lava soap (seems to be the US equivalent) a few times with no effect besides super dry hands. I'll wait it out with the other keyboard and see if things change I suppose.

 

[Joe C]

What dirty keyboard?

 

[PP Mguire]

Yea I have that in my computer gore folder. Ew.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

The problem isn't really anything of your doing, the vast majority of keyboards, even many high end ones, use ABS plastic for the keys which has the nasty property of absorbing oil and once that's happened there really isn't anything you can do about it that I have seen. Also jus a warning but solvents can melt ABS so I wouldn't try anything to crazy to clean it.

A keyboard with PBT keys will be much more resilient to oil but odds are you will pay a lot for it since only high end keyboard makers will bother to spend extra for it.

I am very annoyed by greasy keyboards also so I keep mine somewhat obsessively clean, mine also has rubberized keys that seem to clean well so far.

If I end up picking up a mechanical keyboard for work I am halfway tempted to try applying an oleophobic coating to the keys to see if that keeps them from getting greasy.