Most pieces of tech require maintenance and a little TLC now and then. Mechanical keyboards are no different. Unlike, say, a monitor though, the odd swipe from a microfiber cloth won’t cut it with a PC peripheral your digits are likely to interact with for hours every day.
I’ve recently had the displeasure of having to clean my mechanical keyboard for the first time in over two years. And honestly? My stomach still hasn’t recovered. A word of warning: please do not eat while reading this article. I don’t want the ensuing photos of grime-encrusted keys to make you upchuck your lunch.
Before we get into the dirty, oh so dirty business, let me big up mechanical keyboards for a second. They’re awesome. For the longest time, I only used membrane boards, but as soon as I made the switch to their more tactile cousins, I’ve been Team Mechanical ever since.
Mechanical keyboards are great but need maintenance
The best boards need regular cleaning
More responsive and more accurate for both typing and playing PC games, buying a mechanical keyboard can boost productivity. My experience with my current board has been so good, I deeply regret all the years I wasted on membrane peripherals. There is a major drawback, though: they require a good deal more upkeep than membrane keyboards.
I started using the Alienware Pro mechanical keyboard a couple of years ago, and I’ve generally been smitten ever since. The supreme clicky-clack delight of interacting with this 75% form factor board’s switches has been a delight, and for many months my eyes were bewitched by its alluring RGB lights.
9/10
- Form factor
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75% Full-size
- Switch options
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Alienware Linear Mechanical Switches (Red)
- Colorways
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Per-Key 16.8 Million RGB, AlienFX
- Backlight
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Programmable RGB
The Alienware Pro Gaming Wireless keyboard offers superb build quality, an incredible typing and gaming experience, and breathtaking RGB lighting. It is designed with gamers in mind, having been designed with input from professional eSports teams like Team Liquid. This keyboard provides numerous customization options, from hot-swappable switches to macro and lighting programming via the Alienware Command Center software, which is a bit buggy. Though this keyboard is pricey, it is arguably one of the best on the market for gamers.
Hot dang, does my Lunar Light model absolutely love to pick up all sorts of gag-worthy grime, though. During the first year of using my Alienware Pro accessory, the backlit keycaps appeared to be surprisingly resistant to picking up dirt. I then subsequently turned off my accessory’s lighting once I realized how rapidly it was sucking the Pro’s battery dry.
It was only when my corneas started craving those vibrant RGB stylings again at the turn of the year that I discovered the appalling state my grubby mitts had left this expensive keyboard in. Switching the lights back on, my eyes were greeted with a gut-bothering mess.
Full disclosure: my fingers are usually clean. Honest! Yet even if you scrub your hands furiously a dozen times a day like you were the direct descendant of Howard Hughes, if you don’t regularly clean a mechanical keyboard, dirt is going to build up. And fast.
Mechanical keycaps love to collect dirt
Even low-force switches gather grime
The state I found my keyboard in just a few weeks ago was downright ghastly. All those times I used keyboard shortcuts to improve apps on my Windows 11 PC had left some keycaps in fatally ugly fashion. Re-enabling its power-hungry lighting made both the disgusting debris on the keycaps and the spaces in between the switches glaringly obvious.
My mighty mechanical board was absolutely encrusted with filth that the Alienware Pro’s soothing turquoise backlight made painfully visible. The whole board looked like the Toxic Avenger had just finished typing War and Peace on it, yet the bottom right of my peripheral (especially around the Page Up and Home keycaps) was next-level wretched to look at.
Clearly, I had quite the clean-up job on my hands if I was to restore my mechanical keyboard to a semi-respectable state once more. Spoiler: said clean thankfully went really well. So, if you’ve recently found yourself in a position where your board has fallen into a grubby state, I can help you get it in fairly pristine condition.
How to properly clean a mechanical keyboard
Tips for sprucing up your peripheral
Cleaning a mechanical keyboard may not be as straightforward as sprucing up a membrane model, yet it’s still pretty simple … if a little time-consuming. All you need to get going is some cotton swabs/buds, some wet wipes, a keycap puller, and (optionally) a can of compressed air.
Now with the latter, you only really need to use air or a spray duster if you either don’t want to remove your keycaps or you physically can’t. If your mechanical keyboard is reasonably modern and is half decent, every key should be removable.
First up, turn your keyboard off, then remove your switches with the keycap puller that was hopefully boxed with your board. While you can remove caps with your fingers, for the sake of being delicate with them, it’s safer to use a puller. Also, make sure you take a snap of your keyboard before you start yanking out switches like a demented Tooth Fairy. This way you’ll be able to reassemble your keycaps in the correct order with minimal fuss.
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Once you’ve removed the keycaps, it’s time to clean them. You can either use a cloth with warm water/rubbing alcohol or wet wipes for this step. If your mechanical switches can’t be removed (or you only want to wash a few of them), cotton swabs are your best bet for cleaning the dirt out of every nook and cranny.
After you’ve cleaned them, allow the keycaps to dry for at least 30 minutes before inserting them onto your keyboard. Only once they’ve fully dried off should you consider placing them back.
Cotton buds are great for cleaning keyboards
A cheap way to remove hard to reach dirt
Cleaning the base of your board should take up less time than cleaning the individual switches, but it’s still a key part of mechanical maintenance you don’t want to mess up. Here, a cotton swab dabbed in a little water is your best friend. It took me about half a dozen buds to properly weed out the grime between my keycaps, and did they ever look nauseating after the fact.
When your keycaps and the main board are both clean and dry, you can begin the incredibly satisfying step of clicking your caps back into place. As much as I’m ashamed of the state I let my keyboard fall into, I can’t deny that I found the clean-up process genuinely therapeutic.
So please, I implore you: make sure you clean your mechanical keyboard every couple of months. No matter how good the Windows Phone keyboard gets, interacting with a mechanical board on a PC can’t be matched.
Before I gave my Alienware Pro some long overdue love, I was dealing with several keys that jammed almost every fourth or fifth press. It was so bad at one stage, I had to find creative ways of leaving the letters ‘g’ and ‘u’ out of sentences. Don’t let this happen to you.
If you look after your mechanical board properly, you’ll be rewarded with more pleasurable typing and gaming experiences, while also extending the longevity of your beloved peripheral.
