Can you look at this picture and see where I’m going with this post?
Dr. Pepper does not belong in a keyboard! But this morning, somehow, it ended up in my keyboard. I would blame it on the cat but I don’t have a cat!
Since I’ve gotten to be a pro at removing Dr. Pepper from a keyboard, I’ll share a little tutorial on how to do it . . and do it so well that your husband never knows it happened (unless he reads your blog!):
1. Grab a paper towel (or two . . depending on how much spilled). Sop up as much as you can.
2. Grab a clean paper towel and tear it to little shreds. Poke those down between the keys. Poke hard . . they don’t want to go down there. (If you could see the crumbs in my keyboard, you wouldn’t want to go down there either!).
3. Use a straight pin to move the shreds of paper around under the keys. Don’t be surprised at what else comes out from under those keys!
4. Use the pointed edge of the pins or a seam ripper to get the shreds of paper out of the keyboard.
5. Spritz a little water down in the cracks. I use the little Mist It mister.
6. Tear more little shreds of paper and repeat Steps 3 and 4.
7. Wipe down the keys with a damp paper towel to remove the sticky.
8. Promise yourself to never have another Dr. Pepper near your keyboard again.
Diane says
Oh I used to get in so much trouble! My keyboard always had crumbs and coke drips in it.
My husband who has worked on and built computers almost as long as I have known him can get so fussy about that sort of stuff. 🙂
Amy says
I thought you were drinking water…
Vicki W says
I thought you were converting to water? It’s so much easier to get water out of the keyboard!
Natalie says
even if you don’t have a cat (i dont), it’s still a good idea to keep cat litter around. you can sprinkle that onto electronics (like a keyboard) and it’ll pull the moisture out. if it’s something smaller like a cell phone, just take the battery out and put everything in a pile of cat litter and let it sit for a few hours. that stuff will pull ALL of the moisture right out!
JudyL says
Never said I was giving up Dr. Pepper. I have cut back to 2 per day. One at breakfast and one at dinner. I don’t drink coffee so the only caffeine I get is from DP. I’m still drinking my water but just not with my breakfast or dinner.
Pat says
Oh, my…..you should see the crumbs in MY keyboard…and my hubby’s career was in computers….so he goes a bit wild over it. (He has his own computer and doesn’t use mine, but if he happens to see it, he goes nuts about it.) I hope you are going to put this Dr. Pepper “tutorial” on your side bar for quick and easy reference for those of us who are keyboard slobs!!!! 🙂
Judy says
Sorry to laugh but this is funny. Sometimes we need an excuse to clean the keyboard…….I think I’ll just dust mine. 😉
Julie H. says
Some friends of mine (computer geeks) put their keyboard in the dishwasher on a regular basis. I haven’t tried this so I can’t recommend it but they swear by it. I would avoid the “heat dry” cycle if I were to try it.
Kelly says
I’ve lost track of the number of keyboards my husband has ruined with beer, pop, water, wine…..
pdudgeon says
two words…. keyboard skin.
it’s a clear, flexible piece of plastic that fits right over the keys and keeps all the crumbs and liquid off your keyboard.
i’ve had mine for years and avoided many an accident.
Linda says
This is why we have the “no food or drink” rule at the library. Diet pop doesn’t have the sticky factor and you can just flip the keyboard upside down, knock out a much liquid as you can & let it dry out. The same holds true for spilling into the back of a TV. Orange juice, milk or reg. pop =BAD. Water or diet pop = let it dry out good before turning on and chances are it’ll be fine. Oh, the things motherhood teaches one. LOL
Liz says
When I saw the title and the soda can, I thought you were going to announce that you were going off the water routine and back to the Dr.
Since I have a laptop, I am very nervous about spills. I have a cute little tray on my desk that is the spot for the coffee cup and water glass. It catches all of the drips as well as reminding me to be careful! Unfortunately the dust still gets to the computer.
KMcCall says
They actually have flexible (they roll or fold) “spill-proof” or spill resistant keyboards. They are not very expensive. I don’t use one myself as I only use laptops…but I wish they would have had one for the days I worked in a cube or office.
Marilyn says
Judy,
One question …..Does it work now? I have had so many spills, I think I
might have a cat but haven’t seen them yet. Great job cutting back on
the Dr. Pepper. I sure wish I had the will power to only drink 2 diet cokes
a day.
Greg says
The cans of compressed air that they sell at office supply places like Staples does a great job of cleaning crumbs and other dry, crunchy stuff out of your keyboard. Or you can always just turn it upside down and shake gently!
Nancy says
Ok so it isn’t you that drinks all the Dr Pepper…… it’s the cat…….. I knew that there was no way you could personally consume 5-6 cans of that each day.
Hope your valiant attempt to drink more water is going well!!!! I’m trying to do that too…..and some days I do better than others (Hiding the coke classic behind my back)
Jocelyn says
I knew those sewing tools would come in handy for something. Hey when I spill something (near) I turn the keyboard upside down to let most of the (wet) moisture drop out. Then I (rap) tap it a couple of times to see what else comes out. Hey, it keeps the keyboard cleaned out (after the panic sets in). Lovely tutorial.
Kathy Wagner says
Oh my goodness…you are a hoot!
I would be having a bird if this happened to me!
Still laughing….
Cindy says
My keys stick even after doing the paper towel thing. I’ve heard about the “keyboard in the dishwasher thing” thing, but I’m too much of a chicken.
I know one thing – if you pop off those keys to clean out the gunk, don’t pop off the Enter keys and especially don’t pop off the Space Bar.
You’ll be really, really sorry.
I’m just sayin.
Sandy says
Don’t want to gross you out but this is why almost all keyboards have e-coli on them. (You may want to clean it with a little Lysol, too!)
Hope it still works, okay.
Vicky says
I turn it over on paper towels and pray that most of it drains out. You can count on me about once a month spilling something on my keyboard.
Evelyn says
Sometimes I rub a little bit of rubbing alcohol on a q-tip around my computer keys to clean it. You can also tip your keyboard upside down and bang it a little to get the crumbs out. Just stay away from a laptop with your drinks!
Sue Abrey says
Oops. Been there, done that!. Hope the keyboard’s none the worse for it’s little shower?
Natalie says
I love this post, not just because I am notoriously clumsy and spill things everywhere, but because only a quilter would think to use a seam ripper to clean up a keyboard!!