Get it all open and get the membranes all washed and clean.

Don't know what kind of keyboard yours is, but mine takes cappuccino, whole milk, no sugar. 😉

Actually mine has survived enough of its own drinking binges - coffee, soda, beer, you name it. All I've ever had to do was shake the liquids out vigorously, put the keyboard aside for a few hours, and give it a few thorough passes with a hair dryer every now and then - didn't have to open it up. In the worst case, it took the night to recover. FWIW, it's mechanical and LED-backlit as well.

My son has a Rosewill "gaming" keyboard with the orange WASD and arrow keys. That part is not important. But it comes with a key puller and every key pulls off rather easily and cleans even more easily. It was fairly inexpensive too. I want to say around $30. We just had a liquid spill the other day and I just popped a few keys off, ran them under warm water, then dabbed at the membrane with a damp paper towel. Good as new.

For your keyboard, if the keys are removable, this might be a good excuse to pull them all and get all that disgusting gunk out that sneaks in there over time, in addition to the diet soda. Post the model and maybe we can help figure it out.

Razer Blackwidow Chroma is the model, I am pretty sure it uses mechanical switches (but could be wrong).

I once killed my favorite Dell Quietkey with Neocitran. 🙁 I might have added extra lemon juice or sugar to it though, I forget. Luckily I obtained another one, only to end up lending it to my stepbrother when he needed a keyboard.

What kills me is the stupid way it happened. I keep a ball of modelling clay on my shelf to squeeze in my hand as a stress relief, the stupid thing rolls off my shelf and plops right into my damn drink.

So, drink ruined, keyboard may/may not be messed up. Ball of clay is of course fine so I guess that's the silver lining, 🤣.

https://insider.razerzone.com/index.php?threa … ow-chroma.2816/

There's a video on this page. Looks like she's using the same key puller I have for the Rosewill I described.

Take it apart and clean the internals?

If I didn't do this I'd have to buy a new keyboard every month or so.

Moved to Milliways.

Marvin is for Discussion about old PC hardware and Retro PCs 😀

A keyboard takes longer than 10 minutes to dry. In most cases, it'll be fine in a few days. Taking it apart and cleaning it is a good idea though.

and give it a few thorough passes with a hair dryer every now and then

Be careful if you're going to do this (which I won't recommend). Working in IT I've seen enough melted plastic keys on laptops by people who think this is a good idea. Granted full size keys aren't as easy to destroy as those cheap laptop switches, but still.

Yes. If you do this, do it with the heat off (should've emphasized that).

My dad dumped coffee on his W510. New keyboard & DVD brought it back to life fortunately.

Yes, be careful with heat. Even if the keys don't visibly 'melt' they can become distorted enough to jam in the holes. This is irreparable. I lost a keyboard this way.

It's easy, but a bit time-consuming, to clean a keyboard.

Contrary to what you might read or see on YouTube, DO NOT run your keyboard through your automatic dishwasher. The automatic dishwasher liquid can damage the finish on the plastic, especially for black keyboards. Also, high heat can warp or melt parts. Also also, you'll need to wait at least 7 days for it to dry if you haven't disassembled the keyboard first. Then, if you're lucky, the keyboard might work again. If you like your keyboard, don't risk it in the dishwasher.

If you've spilled something in it, or just want to clean up a thrift store keyboard, here's what you do:

1
Disassemble the keyboard. Completely. If you think you won't remember where parts go back together, take photos as you disassemble it. When cleaning MS Natural and Natural Elite keyboards, I always take pictures.

2
Find a tupperware you can seal. Put the key caps in it along with some regular non-automatic dish soap. Fill it up with warm water and put the cover on it. Shake it up occasionally, about once every hour. 24 hours of soaking should be good to clean those keys.

3
Clean keyboard bezels with regular non-automatic dish soap and a toothbrush. Set them aside to dry.

4
Let your bezels and key caps dry for at least 24 hours. 48 hours is even better. Point a fan at them if you want to speed up the drying.

5
Use lysol/clorox wipes to clean both the bezels and the key caps. This should kill any germs and clean off any remaining grunge.

6
Let the bezels and key caps dry for another hour or two after using the lysol/clorox wipes.

7
Reassemble your keyboard. It should be like new.

Clearly, you don't want to go through all this effort for a crappy disposable keyboard. I only do this for really good ergonomic keyboards like the MS Natural. Also, I really love the IBM 8923, so I'll spend time to clean those up too. The Dell QuietKey is supposed to be the same as the IBM 8923, but they feel cheaper/lighter to me somehow.

Thank you everyone for the tips/advice.

However, I plugged it in and...

Yes! 😀

I use a Razor Blackwidow as well. They Handel dish washer just fine. Pop the caps off and give it a good wash. The sugar (or lack thereof in your case), is not the issue. Soda's use citric acid for flavor and emulsion. That can destroy circuit contacts and traces in a few days. You should give it two or three washes to be on the safe side. Just give a good shake and towel dry. Then stick it in a window for a day to let the sun finish the drying. Put the keys back on and rest knowing that the contacts and traces won't erode from your $100+ keyboard.

***EDIT***

Just wanted to say that you should use standard dawn dish soap and no high heat on the dish washer method. KT7A is right about the black plastic on the keyboard. It will discolor and warp as it's thin and generic plastic. Just a small amount of the dish soap is more than enough. About 1/4 teaspoon. No more or you will flood the dish washer with suds.

Kodai wrote:

Just wanted to say that you should use standard dawn dish soap and no high heat on the dish washer method. KT7A is right about the black plastic on the keyboard. It will discolor and warp as it's thin and generic plastic. Just a small amount of the dish soap is more than enough. About 1/4 teaspoon. No more or you will flood the dish washer with suds.

Thanks! I would also like to add that when using lysol/clorox wipes, be sure you're using the non-bleach and chlorine-free versions of those products. If you use the chlorine or bleach versions, it can damage the finish on your keyboard.