I recently spilled a bit of soda onto my laptop keyboard. As normal, I flipped the computer over and got as much of the soda out from under the keys as I could. For a couple hours, I thought I was in good shape. That was, until the stickiness kicked in. I have an island style keyboard and I am not sure what exactly to do to get rid of this stickiness. The keys work... but they are sometime harder to press and get irritating. Is there some way to fix this problem without spending $50 for a replacement keyboard?

Can anyone help?

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Comment by Eric Fox on April 7, 2010 at 7:13pm: Bah, I've got cheap keyboards so I don't worry about such things. I just smash the key a few times and the stickiness goes away. If it ever comes back (has happened once or twice) I do the same thing and it never returns. Probably got all kinds of crap in the keyboard, but, like I said, it is cheap.

Comment by LADYTECH on April 7, 2010 at 11:18am: STICKY KB! I just finish spilling 1/2 of Snapple into mine!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
That's never happened before. I'm always sooooo careful.
I removed the keys and all clean now.
I realized not all KB u need to turn over when something gets spilled into them. By doing that I made my situation worst. Cuz now I got Snapple all under the keys. Once the keys were removed it seemed easy to just wipe off. But now! Augh!
Boy did I Learn something from this. And I don't buy cheap KB's.

I just a damp cloth to wipe inside and under KB keys.

Comment by Dave on April 7, 2010 at 11:11am: what keyboard is it?

I've heard of but wouldn't recomend this
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11029793

If you realy feel the need and have the patience, dissassemble it, taking all the keys out,, unscrewing the case and with a mildly damp cloth or alcohol base cleaner (even meths) get to cleaning every nook and cranny.

Comment by David on April 7, 2010 at 10:25am: Second cliffystones' procedure. But do check, after removing and disassembling the keyboard, for any possible contamination of other components, as you may need further help (possibly at a repair center) if the soda traveled farther than your keyboard.

Comment by cliffystones on April 7, 2010 at 6:17am: I have cleaned out medical monitoring keyboards (they cost a little more than $50). You have to completely remove all the keys and dismantle the thing. Unlike the previous poster stated, you will need to use plain old water to get the sugar out. Sugar molecules don't rinse well with petroleum based solvents. Immediately after rinsing the sugar water out with water, you can use a fluorocarbon based contact cleaner to displace the water. Then use compressed air to blow out the solvent, followed by warm blowing air to completely dry the parts before re-assembling.

I scolded the emergency room technicians and advised them to keep their "Big Gulps" at arms length from the keyboards. This tends to make life a lot easier :)

Comment by Dagoth Pie on April 7, 2010 at 1:32am: I did that with my keyboard at one point, with custard, I managed to clean it out but there was still enough to cause problems like you're having, eventually with use it stopped sticking. The only thing I can suggest is taking all your keys off the keyboard and using cotton buds to clean it thouroughly with a solvent, something like lens cleaner is good, if you wanted to be extreme you could use paint thinner or vodka or something, but you'd risk damaging something.

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