I'm just going to be selling my eMac but although the computer is in great nick, the keyboard is filthy. The keys are dirty and there's loads off fluff under them. What would you recommend to get them clean again?
I was thinking of a complete disassembly to clean under the keys and then prying off the keys to clean them.
I use Hydrogen peroxide to clean them. Be sure not to soak them in it. Try soap and warm water to do it first. Use a toothbrush to scrub of the gunk. To get the fluff out, pull off all the keys one-by-one and use a toothpick to pull out the fuzz.
Really, crack it apart and run the bits through the dishwasher. Just make sure everything's nice and dry before installation.
I've rescued so many keyboards by giving them a good cleaning, including a few newer USB ones.
I pry all the keys off and soak them in a large yogurt container filled with ammonia and water. Ammonia won't harm the plastic, but does a great job eating through all that finger jam.
Give them a good rinse, and even the filthiest keys usually don't need any scrubbing after an ammonia bath.
The shell I scrub with laundry detergent and a brush, blot it with a towel and leave it to air dry.
For sticking keys, it depends on the kind of switches. The electrical and mechanical parts of the switches on Apple and MacAlly USB keyboards can be separated, and the mechanical parts soaked and scrubbed with a paintbrush - nothing too harsh - and the little plastic contact sheets and circuit board I wipe with ispopropyl alcohol.
The trick is making sure when you reassemble it you still end up with a qwerty layout.
Ammonia? I thought that was a gas at room temp. I remember doing an experiment with ammonia and bromine and nearly puking from the stink...
Ammonia is used as a general purpose cleaner. Just be sure to never mix your cleaning chemicals, the wrong combo and you've got some really deadly poison gas... ;P
Oh, come on! Everybody needs to see mustard gas in action one time or another!!!