Keyboard got shiny keys? fix it quick and cheap!

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

Doktor Power and Duzzit as well as Scotchbrite do these white/grey foam like pads that you wet under the tap, squeeze out water then rub onto any surface to remove marks and stuff.

I've been using these on my leather steering wheel for a while now to restore the original matte finish of the steering wheel and was due to buy a new keyboard as the keys had worn down and looked shabby around WASD and the space bar but had a quick thought about trying a bit of the pads and it worked really well :)

Many home/diy shops sell the pads btw. I got mine from The Range and Homebase but they exist in supermarkets too.

[carmatic]

by 'shiny' do you mean the buildup of oils etc on their surface, or do you mean the keys getting worn down?

imho the bigger problem is with the letters getting worn off the keys...

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

Logitech lettering won't wear off anytime soon they are rub resistant but re: the above, the latter, oils will easily be wiped away using a damp cloth ryv but where the matte finish on the key wears down it leaves a shiny patch where contact is most made. The pads are very very fine sanding pads in essence and works at lifting off the shiny layer in very fine proportions restoring the matte finish underneath.

My diNovo keys lettering has no signs at all of being erased btw.

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

for a second i thought Billy Mayes was goign to sell more OxyClean

my DNovo Edge keys are shiny due to oils, but also dusty in the untouched areas, may try this if i have some laying around in the shop or home

[Richard Hammond]

Would these be any good at lapping a copper heatsink base?

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

It's not as abrasive as wetsanding a heatsink to level it out for lapping and you cannot lay it flat as it's spongy so the answer would be no :)

[Soldiers33]

so you saying this will help my arrow keys? they are all shiny and dnt look grainy anymore due to all the game playing

[ncoday]

I just use the keyboard. I have worn through the shiny covering and am down working on wearing off the letters at this point.

The "C" is almost completely gone! The "A" is not far behind.

Had this keyboard for about 2 years. It is used at my work where I am typing for 8+ hours a day. I figure 2 years is pretty good for a keyboard to last that long where it gets almost constant use.

It's a Microsoft Natural Ergo 4000 keyboard.

If this were my home keyboard, I would expect it to last longer, at least 3-4 years.

[carmatic]

  Richard Hammond said:

Would these be any good at lapping a copper heatsink base?

if you want to have a matte finish , then i suppose...

[_dandy_]

What am I missing?

What's wrong with having a matte keyboard worn down to a shine? Is that really an issue for anyone?

[digitalsoft]

  _dandy_ said:

What am I missing?

What's wrong with having a matte keyboard worn down to a shine? Is that really an issue for anyone?

He's giving advice... Its nice to have products that still look new.

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

I suppose if you didn't spend good money on your KB then you'd not be that bothered but I spent ?60 on mine and it looks awesome so I'd like to keep the keys looking awesome as well.

It's no different to a car steering wheel, it looks cack all shiny after a few years of usage and thes epads bring back the brand new look and feel.

Eg:

[vladmphoto]

  Hell-In-A-Handbasket said:

for a second i thought Billy Mayes was goign to sell more OxyClean

my DNovo Edge keys are shiny due to oils, but also dusty in the untouched areas, may try this if i have some laying around in the shop or home

Billy Mays is dead.....

[Kenji]

Slightly off topic.. But what keyboard is that? it looks like a dinovo edge, but it isnt.. or is it?

I need to replace my dinovo edge as I dropped it and 2 keys came off, and they wont go back on.. :( Don't want to splash ?130 again really..

[trek]

for north americans, a similar product is Mr. Clean Magic Eraser... just a fyi

[Nagisan]

  mrk said:

Logitech lettering won't wear off anytime soon they are rub resistant

I disagree, my Logitech G11 is only about a year old and the S key is already starting to disappear.

[shouck]

I just bought an Acer Aspire 6930 that has shiney keys from the factory. I wonder if a Magic Eraser would make them matte... If only I had an extra keyboard to try it with.

Personal preference of course, but to me, shiney keys just don't *feel* right.

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

The keyboard is a dinovo for notebooks :)

I've had the old dinovo desktop set, the s510 and other wireless boards and this dinovo for notebook's key throw and weight/feel are superior to them all. The only one that is equally excellent in look and feel is the Edge but that's more than double the cost for nothing more extra other than a touchpad and no numpad!!!

  mwpeck said:

I disagree, my Logitech G11 is only about a year old and the S key is already starting to disappear.

NO idea about the G boards but I've had dinovos and normal ones (all wireless) for years with no such lettering rubbing off. I always clean them with screenwipes though and only use the pads when keys get shiny :)

Edited July 7, 2009 by mrk

[qdave]

I hate dissapearing letters, but shiny keys are sort of cool for me :p But of course i use $10 keyboard for 5 years now. If it was 100 keyboard io might have a different view. Still things get worn down.

[carmatic]

wait wait i think i might have seriously misunderstood... do you mean shiny as in how it looks, or how the surface has lost texture from wear?

im trying to fathom how you can give texture to a surface by rubbing it with something, unless its something rough and your actually scratching the surface evenly...

[shouck]

  carmatic said:

wait wait i think i might have seriously misunderstood... do you mean shiny as in how it looks, or how the surface has lost texture from wear?

You know when a laptop keyboard is used for a few years (my previous laptop keyboard did it after a year), and the spot on the individual keys lose the texture from when they're new? I was envisioning that.

I was just saying I was curious if you could make a keyboard that was designed glossy, textured with one of those magic erasers.

[MR_Candyman]

  Kenji said:

Slightly off topic.. But what keyboard is that? it looks like a dinovo edge, but it isnt.. or is it?

I need to replace my dinovo edge as I dropped it and 2 keys came off, and they wont go back on.. :( Don't want to splash ?130 again really..

You can put the keys back on. I take them off occasionally to clean underneath. Some are a pain, but most you just put one of the clips in place then push down on the key and the other pops on.

[PureHeart]

  carmatic said:

by 'shiny' do you mean the buildup of oils etc on their surface, or do you mean the keys getting worn down?

imho the bigger problem is with the letters getting worn off the keys...

Lol, I have a HP Multimedia keyboard, almost all the keys (cept for home keys) are completely gone :|

[TEX4S]

or just buy another keyboard...

mrk - I think both pics of your steering wheel look pretty damned clean.

I hate the shine on the steering whel after I get my truck detailed, but never tell them not to "shine" it - I think after looking at your pics - I might try to use the Mgic Eraser on parts of my interior...

[-KJ]

I have some of these but never thought of using them on my keyboard: