How to Clean and Maintain a Mechanical Keyboard

A mechanical keyboard is usually the single most expensive, most visible piece of a themed desk, so it’s worth keeping it looking and working the way it did on day one.

Dust it weekly, briefly

A soft brush or a few seconds of compressed air between the keys once a week keeps dust from building up under the keycaps, where it’s much harder to remove later.

Pull the keycaps for a real clean, every few months

Most keyboards come with (or support) a keycap puller. Pulling the keycaps lets you clean both the caps and the switch housings properly instead of just clearing the surface.

Wash keycaps with mild soap and water, not solvents

Warm water with a small amount of dish soap is enough for PBT or ABS keycaps. Skip alcohol or harsh solvents on keycaps with printed or dye-sublimated legends, since they can fade the print over repeated cleaning.

Let everything dry fully before reassembly

Keycaps and switch housings need to be completely dry before you put the board back together. Reassembling while still damp is the most common way people end up with sticky or unresponsive keys afterward.

Leave switch lubing to a second attempt

Lubricating switches individually improves sound and feel, but it means fully disassembling the board and is easy to get wrong the first time. It’s worth trying once you’re comfortable with basic cleaning and disassembly, not as your first maintenance step.

Keep the cable and connector clean too

If the keyboard is wired, a buildup of dust or lint at the USB connector can cause intermittent connection issues that look like a bigger problem than they are. A quick wipe of the connector solves more of these than you’d expect.