Check your legends before anything touches water
This is the step that decides whether cleaning is safe, and almost nobody mentions it. The keycap material can handle water. The printing is what you can destroy.
| Legend type | How to identify it | Safe to soak & scrub |
|---|---|---|
| Double-shot | Run a fingernail over the legend — you may feel a faint seam. The legend goes right through the cap | Yes |
| Dye-sublimated | Completely flush with the surface, slightly soft edges, dyed into the plastic | Yes |
| Pad-printed | Sits on top as a thin raised layer. Common on budget prebuilts | No — wipe only |
| Laser-etched | A shallow engraved groove, sometimes with infill | Careful — no solvents |
| UV-printed | A visible printed layer with sharp edges, often on artwork sets | No — wipe only |
Not sure which you have? Double-shot vs dye-sub keycaps walks through how to tell them apart.
If your legends are pad-printed or UV-printed, skip the soak entirely and go to the wipe-only method. If they're double-shot or dye-sub — which covers nearly all enthusiast PBT sets — carry on.
What you need
- A keycap puller. A wire puller is far kinder to your keycaps than the plastic ring type
- A bowl or container big enough to hold the set in one layer
- Warm water — comfortable to the touch, not hot
- A few drops of dish soap. Plain washing-up liquid is ideal
- A soft brush. An old soft toothbrush works well
- A microfibre cloth or clean towel for drying
- Optional: a soft-bristle brush and compressed air for the board itself
You don't need specialist cleaner. Nothing in the keycap-cleaning process benefits from anything stronger than dish soap, and most stronger products carry a real risk of hazing the plastic or lifting printed legends.
Before you start
A wire puller grips the underside of the keycap instead of squeezing its walls, which is why it's the tool most enthusiasts use. If you're still pulling caps off with a plastic ring — or with your fingernails — a proper puller is a few dollars well spent.
The full clean, step by step
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Photograph your layout
Take a phone photo of the keyboard before you remove anything. It takes five seconds and it saves you guessing later — especially on a compact board where the bottom row and navigation cluster aren't standard.
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Remove the keycaps
Pull straight upward, never sideways. Stabilised keys — spacebar, Enter, Shift, Backspace — need a little extra care because they're clipped to stabiliser stems underneath. Our guide to removing keycaps safely covers the stabilised keys in detail.
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Soak for 30 minutes to 2 hours
Warm water, a few drops of dish soap, keycaps in a single layer so the water reaches all the surfaces. Thirty minutes handles normal use. Two hours is plenty for a set that has never been cleaned. There is no benefit to soaking overnight, though it won't harm double-shot or dye-sub PBT if you forget.
Keep the water comfortable to the touch. Hot water is the most common way people deform keycaps, and ABS is more sensitive to it than PBT.
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Brush the stubborn spots
Most grime lifts away in the soak. What's left is usually along the inner walls and around the stem. Work the soft brush gently over those areas — no pressure is needed, and pressure is what damages printed legends.
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Rinse thoroughly
Rinse each cap under clean running water. Soap residue left inside the cap dries to a film that attracts dust faster than the dirt you just removed, so don't rush this.
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Dry for at least 12 hours
Lay them face down on a towel with the stems up so water drains out rather than pooling inside. Twelve hours suits a warm, dry room; allow up to 48 in humid weather. Shake each cap out before you set it down and you'll cut the time noticeably.
Water trapped inside a keycap will drip into your switch when you press the key, so be patient here. If you must speed it up, a fan at room temperature is fine. Heat is not.
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Reinstall using your photo
Line each cap up with the switch stem and press down evenly until it seats. Reattach stabilised keys to their stabiliser clips first, then press the cap down. Test every key before you call it done.
(1600×900, alt: “Keycaps drying face down with stems up”)
How to clean keycaps without removing them
Use this when your legends can't be soaked, when you want a five-minute tidy-up, or when you simply don't want to pull a whole set off.
- Power off or unplug the keyboard
- Turn it upside down and tap the back firmly to dislodge loose debris
- Blow out the gaps with compressed air, held upright and at an angle so debris goes outward rather than deeper
- Dampen a microfibre cloth with water — wring it out until it is barely damp, not wet — and wipe each keycap top
- Run a dry cotton swab down the gaps between rows
- For sticky residue, add a single drop of dish soap to the cloth, wipe, then go over it again with a water-only cloth
This gets the tops clean and the crumbs out. It won't reach the inner walls or the grime around the stems, so a full clean every few months is still worth doing if your legends allow it.
Cleaning the keyboard underneath
With the caps off, you have the only good opportunity to clean the board itself. Do this while the keycaps are soaking.
- Loose debris: turn the board over and tap, then use compressed air or a soft brush
- The plate and case: a barely-damp microfibre cloth. For a greasy case, 70% isopropyl alcohol on the cloth — applied to the cloth, never poured on the board
- Around the switches: a dry soft brush only
Keep liquid away from the switches and PCB
Isopropyl alcohol is fine on a case or plate but should not run into switch housings, where it can strip factory lubricant. Never spray any liquid directly onto the board, and never submerge a keyboard. If you spill something on the PCB, unplug it immediately and let it dry completely before powering it on.
What to do differently by material
The basic method works for standard plastic keycaps. These need adjusting.
PBT keycaps
The most forgiving material. PBT tolerates soaking well, resists the warm water used here comfortably, and its textured surface holds up to gentle brushing. Nearly all PBT sets use dye-sub or double-shot legends, so a full soak is usually safe.
ABS keycaps
Fine to wash, with two caveats. ABS is more heat-sensitive than PBT, so keep the water on the cooler side of warm. And cleaning will not remove shine — that's wear, not dirt.
Resin and artisan keycaps
Hand-wipe only. Do not soak, and do not put them in an ultrasonic cleaner. Resin is often cast in layers around inclusions, and prolonged water exposure or ultrasonic vibration can cloud the resin or separate those layers. A barely-damp cloth, then dry immediately.
Ceramic keycaps
Ceramic itself is inert and washes easily, but it is brittle — a knock against a sink or another cap can chip a glazed edge. Wash them one at a time rather than as a batch, and dry them on a towel rather than a hard surface.
Metal keycaps
Wash and dry immediately, individually. Don't leave metal caps soaking, and dry them fully rather than air-drying, since standing water can mark anodised and plated finishes.
Rubber and laptop keycaps
Rubberised and soft-touch coatings degrade with alcohol and detergent — wipe with a barely-damp cloth and nothing else. Laptop keycaps sit on fragile scissor mechanisms and are usually best cleaned in place with compressed air and a damp cloth rather than removed.
Is an ultrasonic cleaner worth it?
It cleans a large set thoroughly with no scrubbing, so it is genuinely useful if you clean keycaps often. Use plain water with a drop of dish soap, short cycles, and room-temperature or slightly warm water — most units heat up on their own during a cycle.
Keep resin, artisan, ceramic and metal caps out of it, along with anything pad-printed or UV-printed. For one set once a year, a bowl does the same job.
What never to use on keycaps
| Don't use | What happens |
|---|---|
| Dishwasher | Heat and high-pressure jets warp keycaps and can lose small caps through the rack. Not worth the risk on a set you paid for |
| Boiling or very hot water | Deforms the plastic, particularly ABS. Warm is all you need |
| Bleach | Attacks the plastic surface and can discolour it permanently |
| Acetone or nail polish remover | Dissolves ABS on contact. Also strips printed legends |
| Isopropyl alcohol on legends | Fine on a case. On pad-printed or UV-printed legends it lifts them off |
| Abrasive pads or melamine sponges | They work by sanding. You will haze the surface and thin the legends |
| Hairdryer, oven or radiator | The fastest way to warp a keycap. Room-temperature air only |
| Direct sunlight for drying | UV yellows plastic, especially white and light keycaps |
Why cleaning won't fix shine
If your most-used keys look glossy compared to the rest of the set, no amount of cleaning will bring the texture back.
Shine isn't dirt. It's the surface texture being polished flat by repeated contact with your fingertips — physical wear, spread over months. The matte finish is gone, not covered up. ABS develops it faster than PBT because it's the softer of the two plastics.
Polishing compound can even out the appearance so the whole set looks uniformly glossy, but it does this by removing more material. It never restores texture. In practice, a shiny set is a set at the end of its cosmetic life.
What actually helps is prevention: wash your hands before long sessions, clean the set on a schedule so oil doesn't sit on the surface, and choose thick PBT for a board you type on for hours a day. PBT vs ABS covers the durability difference in detail.
If shine is why you're here
Cleaning won't undo it, but a fresh set will — and it's the cheapest meaningful change you can make to a keyboard. Our PBT keycap sets are dye-sublimated or double-shot, so they hold their texture and their legends far longer than the thin ABS caps most keyboards ship with.
White keycaps: dirt, stains and yellowing
White keycaps don't get dirtier than any other colour — the dirt just shows. Three different problems get confused with each other here:
- Surface grime from skin oil and dust. This is what the full clean above removes, and white caps benefit from being on a shorter cleaning schedule than dark ones
- Stains from ink, food or dye transfer. Dish soap and patient brushing lifts most of them. Anything that survives that is in the plastic, and the aggressive products that might shift it will damage the surface more visibly than the stain does
- Yellowing, which is the plastic itself ageing under UV. It is not cleanable. Keeping the keyboard out of direct sunlight is the only real defence, and PBT yellows more slowly than ABS
How often should you clean keycaps?
| Task | How often |
|---|---|
| Wipe the keycap tops | Weekly |
| Compressed air between the keys | Monthly |
| Full removal and soak | Every 3–6 months |
| White or light keycaps, full clean | Every 2–3 months |
| If you eat at your desk | More often than any of the above |
The weekly wipe matters more than the deep clean. Oil that sits on the surface for months is what causes shine, and once it has done that, cleaning is too late.
The short version
Check how your legends were printed. If they're double-shot or dye-sub, soak the caps in warm soapy water for half an hour to two hours, brush gently, rinse well, and dry stems-up for at least 12 hours. If they're pad-printed or UV-printed, wipe only.
Skip the dishwasher, skip hot water, skip solvents, skip anything abrasive. None of them clean better and all of them can ruin a set.
And if what brought you here was shine rather than dirt, cleaning isn't the answer — that one only gets solved by a new set.
Can you wash keycaps with water?
Yes — lukewarm water is safe for both PBT and ABS keycaps. Remove the keycaps from your keyboard first, then soak or rinse them in warm (not hot) water with a small amount of mild dish soap. Hot water can warp the plastic and damage dye-sublimated legends, so keep the temperature comfortable to the touch. Never wash keycaps while they are still on the board.
How long should you soak keycaps?
30 minutes handles normal use. Two hours is plenty for a set that has never been cleaned. There is no benefit to soaking overnight — it won't clean any better, and on older or lower-quality sets it introduces unnecessary risk of legend fading. The one thing to check before soaking: if your legends are pad-printed or UV-printed, skip the soak entirely and wipe only. Double-shot and dye-sublimated legends are safe to soak.
How long do keycaps take to dry?
Allow at least 12 hours before reinstalling — up to 48 hours in humid conditions. Lay the keycaps face down on a towel with stems pointing up so water drains out rather than pooling inside. Shake each cap out before you set it down to cut drying time. Water trapped inside the stem housing will drip into your switch when you press the key, so be patient here.
How do you dry keycaps fast?
Shake each keycap out immediately after rinsing, then lay them stems-up on a clean towel in front of a fan at room temperature. Do not use a hair dryer, oven, radiator or direct sunlight — heat is the fastest way to warp a keycap, and UV yellows light-coloured plastic. Room-temperature air from a fan is the only safe way to speed up the process.
Can you put keycaps in the dishwasher?
No. Dishwashers use water that is far too hot and detergents that are too harsh for keycap materials. The heat will warp ABS keycaps and can damage dye-sublimated legends on PBT sets. The high-pressure spray can chip legends and damage stem housings, and small keycaps can fall through the rack. A bowl of warm water and dish soap does the same job in 30 minutes without any of the risk.
Can you clean keycaps with isopropyl alcohol?
On the case and plate, 70% isopropyl alcohol on a cloth is fine. On keycaps themselves, use it carefully. IPA is safe on double-shot and dye-sublimated legends for spot-cleaning stubborn residue, but on pad-printed or UV-printed legends it can lift the print off the surface. Never pour IPA directly onto a keycap or the board — apply it to a cloth first. For a full clean, warm water and dish soap is safer and just as effective.
How do you clean keycaps without removing them?
Power off or unplug the keyboard first. Turn it upside down and tap firmly to dislodge loose debris, then use compressed air held at an angle so debris goes outward rather than deeper between the keys. Dampen a microfibre cloth with water — wring it out until barely damp, not wet — and wipe the top of each keycap. Run a dry cotton swab down the gaps between rows. For sticky residue, add a single drop of dish soap to the cloth, wipe, then follow with a water-only cloth. This method cleans the top surfaces but will not reach the inner walls or stem housing — a full soak every few months is still worth doing if your legends allow it.
How do you clean greasy or oily keycaps?
Warm water with a few drops of dish soap is the most effective method — the surfactants cut through skin oil the same way they cut through grease on dishes. Soak for 30 minutes to two hours, then work a soft toothbrush gently over each keycap, particularly along the inner walls and around the stem. Rinse thoroughly under running water and dry stems-up for at least 12 hours. For ABS keycaps that have already developed a shine from oil buildup, cleaning will remove the surface grease but will not reverse the shine itself.
How do you remove shine from ABS keycaps?
You cannot. ABS shine is not dirt — it is the surface texture being polished flat by repeated contact with your fingertips, physical wear spread over months. Cleaning removes the oil that contributes to the glossy appearance, which helps temporarily, but the shine returns quickly because the texture is gone, not covered up. The only fix is a new set. Choosing thick PBT for a board you type on daily prevents the problem from developing — PBT is harder than ABS and resists shine significantly longer.
How do you clean white keycaps?
The same process as any other keycap — warm water and dish soap, 30 minutes to two hours of soaking, a soft brush for stubborn spots, thorough rinse, then dry stems-up for at least 12 hours. Because white keycaps show discolouration more visibly, clean them on a shorter schedule: every 2 to 3 months rather than every 3 to 6. For yellowing caused by UV exposure or age, cleaning will not help — that is the plastic itself degrading, and the only defence is keeping the keyboard out of direct sunlight. PBT yellows more slowly than ABS.
Can you clean artisan or resin keycaps?
Wipe only — do not soak. Resin is often cast in layers around inclusions such as glitter, dried flowers or embedded objects, and prolonged water exposure or ultrasonic vibration can cloud the resin or separate those layers. Use a barely-damp microfibre cloth and dry immediately. Do not use isopropyl alcohol on resin, as it can dull or haze the surface finish.
Do PBT keycaps get greasy?
Less than ABS, and noticeably so. PBT has a denser, more textured surface that does not absorb skin oils the way ABS does. With daily use, surface oil will accumulate over time, but PBT is far less likely to develop the permanent shine that ABS is known for. A weekly wipe with a dry or lightly damp cloth is usually enough to keep PBT keycaps looking clean between full washes. The weekly wipe matters more than the deep clean — oil that sits on the surface for months is what causes shine, and once it has done that, cleaning is too late.