After almost 6 years of use, I could no longer stand the sight of my truly nasty keyboard. So, Sunday morning I began the slow, tedious, and laborious process of removing every key and scrubbing them with 409, then vacuuming and cleaning the base. It looks good now, but man, there has to be a better way to maintain a keyboard than this. I ruined my nice old Toshiba one by using soap and water on the removed keys, then re-installing them without blowing out the water caught up in the key columns. Any other ideas out there?

I'm afraid there isn't. My old PC had a Compaq keyboard such as yours, where every keytop was loose and had to be replaced manually. The day I decided to clean it, I made a hand drawn map to be sure I replaced each keytop in the proper place, then dumped the whole double handful in a large Mason jar with ammonia and a bit of scouring powder then sealed the jar and shook the hell out of it, let it sit for a while, shook it again then dumped the mess through a colander and rinsed them all. While the keys were soaking, I disassembled the rest of the keyboard, swabbed the contact board with alcohol and washed the floppy rubber contact sheet with mild dish detergent. I let the pieces all sit out for several hours in the sun to dry out. When reassembled, everything worked fine.
My new Logitech iTouch keyboard is a bit easier to clean because the top piece holds on to all the keytops so I don't have to worry about replacing each key in its place, but more difficult to reassemble on the whole because it has several extra buttons and controls (F-lock, e-mail hot button, media player hot button, etc.) with the associated contact board. I have successfully cleaned this iTouch kbd twice but like I implied, it's more of a PITA than the old Compaq. I guess the only solution is to see if you can find one of those keyboard covers they use in the fast food industry to keep crud from dropping into the keyboards.

keyboards are pretty cheap these days...i cleaned my logitech here at home just last night,a damp rag and a lot of wiping and fiddling followed by some compressed air to blow the crap out from under the keys...it looks a TON better and feels nicer...but at work,i toss em out and get a new one,they're cheap enough that i can't really justify cleaning or fixing them...it's cheaper for the company to just replace it than for me to waste the time

I still have a keyboard brush. it's pretty long and narrow, but I generally don't use it much as I used to really like the old fashioned click type KB's with individual switches that could be replaced.
I'm old...

I use the glue portion of the post-it pads and put in there between the keys. Works well for me. Then take an alcohol pad to the keys...

Air compressor @175psi.

Why are you doing this? You can buy a brand new keyboard at let's say Staples for $15 or even less. I'd better spend this time cleaning my new Yamaha amp.

I cleaned my Mac G4 keyboard the same way as the OP, but when I was finished, several keys did not function. Did I push them in too hard when I put them back? I fell back on a $4/used Logitech keyboard, which is just fine.

I miss the old days of the early (IBM type) keyboards. You could literally submerge them in a sink of soapy water and scrub them. As long as you made sure to get them completely dry before connecting them and running any electricity through them, they'd be fine. I don't dare try that with the newer, wireless Logitechs! :nono:

I do periodic "maintenance cleaning" on mine. Those baby wipes (yeah, the wet-wipe things you use on baby's bottoms) followed by paper towels do a pretty good job of getting rid of any "skin goo" that might otherwise build up on the keys. Compressed air and a brush help get dust and bits out from between the keys. Maybe once in every year or two I'll do a more meticulous, detailed cleaning, if it gets markedly dirty or I'm in the mood and have time.

I cleaned my Mac G4 keyboard the same way as the OP, but when I was finished, several keys did not function. Did I push them in too hard when I put them back? I fell back on a $4/used Logitech keyboard, which is just fine.

You might want to try it again now. Something may have had a bit of moisture still in it, and after it had several weeks to dry may be good to go.

Why are you doing this? You can buy a brand new keyboard at let's say Staples for $15 or even less. I'd better spend this time cleaning my new Yamaha amp.

True for most keyboards, but if you have a good quality keyboard, they're well worth maintaining. I'm typing this on a 1987 IBM keyboard that's a pleasure to type on and will probably last another 22 years.

Why throw something into the landfill that's fixable? I was thinking along the lines of ablethevoice's idea to shake them in a jar of cleaning solution and he beat me to it. Of course mine never gets dirty. I'm perfect.

For the contacts themselves, most use a mylar keysheet seperated by a thin plastic layer, or carbon impregnated rubber pads the make contact with the other side.
These get dirty, and just literally worn out form the contact mating cycles.
I'll never be able to type, some people are hunt & peck, I'm more like search & destroy.

My Microsoft Natural split keyboard is starting to get kinda gross, but I've been reluctant to try to detail-clean it since it cost $60. Not long ago I picked up a nice wireless one, so now maybe I'll see what I can do with Ol' Crusty!:banana:

You CAN Put Your Keyboard in the Dishwasher!

http://plasticbugs.com/?p=263

Gohan

Based on my previous experience I don't believe it for an instant.

I have been told top rack in the dishwasher is usually OK, but I wouldnt try it unless I was ready to buy a new keyboard anyway,

My suggestion would be to clean the keyboard more often. I use Windex on my keyboard (heh, I use windex to clean everything, from my car's dashboard to tape heads lol), but I'm sure to unplug the damn thing so it doesn't trigger any bizarre commands on the computer.

Then i use that brushy attatchment on the vacuum cleaner, and clean it out.

I don't take the keys off, because usually you can't get the damn things back on.