Because bacteria love keyboards (some urban myths even say keyboards are less hygenic than your average toilet) I do like to clean mine in regular intervals. With the Apple type keyboards it’s now become pretty easy. Take a damp cloth with a bit of cleaning fluid (not too aggressive) and wipe. Easy as. But what about the common keyboard in the office?

I still have a Siemens-Nixdorf keyboard I like a lot (also low profile) but which fell prey to a coffee some time ago. Most of the keys around the right shift key started to stick. No cleaning helped alleviate that issue. I even took the keys out and tried. From time to time I read about the people that put their keyboards in the washing machine. As much as I’d like to believe it were that easy I thought my Nixdorf wouldn’t survive that. So I took it apart first to investigate if a dishwasher was an option. In the picture blow are the parts.

On the top object which is the back shell you can see rectangular openings around the circumference. In there are plastic hooks that hold the whole keyboard together. Release those with a plastic or wooden object. Don’t use metal (like I did) because that will damage the plastic shell. There are basically four pieces (note the fifth is the plug for the cord). The bottom one is the keyboard contact sheet. On closer inspection you will see that on the surface there are silver-metal contacts that the rubber sheet (3rd from top) closes when depressed. I think these would be the contacts that would not survive a dishwasher. They look like they would start to oxidise once they got wet.

So I washed the keyboard cord and the keyboard cover (2nd from top) in the top drawer of my dishwasher ate 45 degrees Celsius. I didn’t remove any keys. And I let the dishwasher use the dry cycle too. Then I let the washed parts dry. Depending on weather and means anything from hours to days is appropriate. Then re-assembled all parts.

The keyboard works like a charm again. The whole procedure was a full success and I think most keyboards would survive this treatment. I did notice a slight discolouration of the keyboard but I believe that is just due to the age of the keyboard itself.

So yes, a dishwasher can make the cleaning of a keyboard much more fun and less tedious than cleaning each key. Now I’ll try with my IBM keyboard…..

I have a half ripped tendon in my right hand. It can’t be fixed and so I have to live with it as is. The problem for me is that keyboards and mice are critical.

If the mouse is too big the tendon starts to ache. I use an old IBM notebook mouse in the office and a Logitech VX Nano notebook mouse at home. As keyboards go I have now tried quite a few. First was a standard Siemens-Nixdorf which I liked for low height, good feel (after using it for 3 years+). But when I spilled some coffee over it I never got all the keys to unstick properly.

Then came a Belkin Ergoboard Pro keyboard. Great feel, 2 USB ports and great ergonomic shape. A little wide though (i.e. hand has to move quite a bit between keyboard and mouse). The problem for me was that the height and position of the hads was exactly what my tendon didn’t need.

Because I had a MacBook at the time I already was sold on the chicklet-keyboards from Apple. So I bought one of the Aluminium keyboards for my company PC. And so far so good. It’s done wonders for my tendon. The low elevation and reduced travel & impact has done wonders form my pain. It’s actually gone now (about 8 months since I have the KBD). I’ve also upgraded to an iMac at home with the same keyboard. In the office I use Ubuntu as an OS and not all keys work but I can definitely live with that. I’ve also started a little trend in the office so now there are about half a dozen of them.

All I can say is that the Apple keyboard is a godsend and I won’t be having any other anytime soon. So if you’re looking for a keyboard give Apple a good look (and while you’re at it contemplate getting the whole Mac!).

There is the BEST KEYBOARD category though. You’ll have to bring about US$1800 for the honour but it really is a monster of a keyboard. I am talking about the Optimus Maximus. Every key has a screen underneath so that you can program the keyboard as you’d like it. I’ve never seen one and I do doubt that the ergonomics are better than my trusty Apple so I think I will forgo for now. But do have a look at this wonder.