General Question

eadinad's avatar

How do you clean a laptop?

Asked by eadinad (1281points) June 14th, 2008

I just spilled a fairly large quantity of oil-based ink (Korn’s Autographic Ink) on my laptop – the keyboard and mousepad area. : (

Does anyone have suggestions for how I might go about cleaning this? It is only slightly water soluble, so I got some of it off with a damp cloth, but there are still stains. I’m up for traditional laptop cleaning solutions, or oil product cleaning solutions. I am kind of scared of putting turpentine or something on my computer, though….

Thanks.

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12 Answers

eadinad's avatar

Also….any safe way to remove keyboard letters in order to clean underneath? My k key is now going haywire….

Spargett's avatar

You should be able to pop your key off with a little extra prying force.

Other than that, can you tell us what model computer you have so we know what kind of material has been stained.

eadinad's avatar

It’s a white macbook. I bought it just under a year ago.

ezraglenn's avatar

oh no! The keys do come off, though.

iwamoto's avatar

i’d open it up entirely, but then again, i’ve done that a lot of times, if you feel confident enough, check http://www.ifixit.com

bluemukaki's avatar

I pulled up the ‘x’ key on a Powerbook 14” and accidentally broke the little plastic ‘springy bits’ which it uses to get that amazing bounce. Just make sure you’re really careful when you pull up the keys, because those little plastic bits cost me $4 each!

Lost_World's avatar

White spirits will do the trick, just put some on a cloth and rub away.

playthebanjo's avatar

I have used the mr clean magic eraser for my iBook. The stains were not nearly as gruesome as yours though.

iJimmy's avatar

Be careful with the keys, they can break easy.

I would try a can of air and some screen cleaning towelettes made computer. I use them to clean the entire laptop. You can buy them BestBuy, Wal-Mart etc.

iwamoto's avatar

well, to be honoust, seeing as the fluid will leak everywhere (yes, i’ve had cases, yes i’ve encountered the problem before” i realy do think taking of the top plate as an idea, or even better, replacing it

gooch's avatar

hairspray and a q-tip

melly6708's avatar

that sucks soo bad!! good luck cleaning

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