What a fabulous keyboard.

I think it's impossible. I /have/ had unreasonable success when adding baking soda to my usual cleaners like diluted MrClean & Windex. Not as an abrasive, but as something for the guck to transfer to. Otherwise tedious toothbrush-scrubbing jobs suddenly become a bit of rub'n'wipe. Not really sure why the magic works.

I expect those marks have dyed in too deep, but if they respond at all to some prodding with the soda, then I'd make a block with a square hole on the bench so I could scrub the little buggers one-a-time but in quick efficient long strokes, production style.

Try lighter fluid (you know, for a flint type Zippo lighter), which is naphtha. Naphtha will remove and disolve almost ANYTHING from most ANY non-porus surface... without any damage to almost ANY surface 😀 It's great for removing any sort of gunk, tar, gum, crayons, permanent marker, wax, etc... dissolves the stuff almost INSTANTLY with NO 'elbow grease' 😀

Important Tip: use proper Ronsonol brand fluid. Can't recall the name, but the black tin stuff that has replaced Ronsonol locally is _filthy_ greasy crap.

I tried scrubbing as well, removed those keys and one by one with soap. But no go.
I will try nafta 😀

Stojke wrote:

I tried scrubbing as well, removed those keys and one by one with soap. But no go.
I will try nafta 😀

I will _almost_ guarantee that will remove it 😀

P.S. It goes without saying, no open flames around this stuff when using it as a cleaning agent 🤣!

Would bleach do anything?

You may want to remove the keys individually and leave them to soak in some cleaning solution for several hours/days/weeks.

And remove the actual letter as well 🤣
Its a cool keyboard, the calc LCD is a bit broken, gonna fix that too 😀

Apparently putting the loose keys in a net bag tied shut and putting it through a washing machine does wonders, but I've not tried this.

Would retrobrite help?

This might be too strong, but nail polish remover works. I used it to remove oil based spray paint on some CRT monitors. If scrubbing too hard it can leave streaks so it's not always recommended.

Whoa, what keyboard is that? It looks awesome! What type of switches does it have?

To clean it, try brake cleaner. It's basically naphta in a spray can (and dirt cheap too) 😉

I will start with naphta at first, than acetone (Nail polish remover) as optional if the first one fails.
I will go to zippo shop tomorrow when i finish with post office.

jwt27 wrote:

Whoa, what keyboard is that? It looks awesome! What type of switches does it have?
To clean it, try brake cleaner. It's basically naphta in a spray can (and dirt cheap too) 😉

I'ts the Focus FK-5001 programmable keyboard with clock and calculator 😀
Posted a topic asking for manual as well.
Its an mechanical keyboard, you can read here : http://deskthority.net/wiki/Focus_FK-5001

I used Mr clean magic eraser on black marker on my ibm model m keyboards and it worked great...got rid of all traces of nasty black permanent marker.

Oh...and this is from wikipedia:

These markers are generally used on hard, non-porous surfaces, because instead of staining they form a surface layer that can be removed by high pressure cleaning or paint thinners and organic solvents such as acetone, xylene, or toluene.Isopropyl alcohol and ethyl acetate are preferred cleaners when used indoors, as their fumes are much less hazardous than toluene and xylene, the main components of paint thinner, or longer-chain hydrocarbons found in mineral spirits. Other common non-polar solvents include benzene,turpentine and other terpenes (which constitute essential oils of many plants with strong scents), most ethers, chloroform and dichloromethane,hydrocarbon fuels, and diacetone alcohol, among many others. Note that most of these solvents are very flammable, and/or their concentrated vapors are harmful to health.

Most brands of "permanent" marker wipe off easily with acetone free nail polish remover, the kind containing ethyl acetate, a relatively non-toxic organic solvent.

Some markers are designed to be long lasting, for instance by having two inks, one specialized to resist solvents, and one specialized not to fade.[citation needed] These can be available in refillable form.[citation needed]

A permanent marker can also be removed by drawing over it with a dry erase marker on non-porous surfaces such as a whiteboard[2] as dry erase markers also contain a non-polar solvent. Most dry-erase board cleaner solutions also contain effective organic solvents like 2-butoxyethanolwhich will do the job.

Source: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_marker

We don't have that here 🙁
Same for Ronsonol it seems, will have to use Zippo lighter fluid.

Zippo brand fluid should be just as clean as Ronsonol. (If not, I'd suspect a fake product.)

Tried Ronsonol i bought at a gas station : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons … ghter_Fluid.JPG

It removes absolutely nothing at all 🤣
A friend told me to try WD40.

Stojke wrote:

Tried Ronsonol i bought at a gas station : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons … ghter_Fluid.JPG

It removes absolutely nothing at all 🤣
A friend told me to try WD40.

WD40 won't do anything to remove that. It just makes your keys greasy.

I used oil based nail polish remover. It seems that the marker penetrated some kind of an protective lacquer that the remover dissolved.
It didn't damage the printings but i guess i should reapply some thin layer of lacquer.