How to Clean Up Laptop Spills

on 6/17/2007 what about something that has dried under a key so that that key no longer works?

on 5/30/2007 when I worked at IBM laptop systems before sold to Lenovo. There are a few myths posted here in the comments and the original article is also wrong. Hard drives on laptops are self-contained and SEALED. You CAN short the pins across the power leads. You CAN NOT get liquid into the physical disk, or the controller board. To the person who mentioned not using Saline, your half right, Saline would seperate the lamination from the boards and other components. Most importantly, system critical paths are Gold, Saline should never be used anyway. To the person who stated using Distilled water you are 100 % correct! That would be the ONLY solution to use when cleaning a board preferably de-ionized which distilled water. For all users reading this strongly encourage you to not do any of this yourself thats why you have a warranty. If you must I would also recommend using a Q-tip between keys.

on 4/26/2007 Is it possible to experience damage down the line if water is spilled on the laptop? The keys weren't working properly, but the next day everything seemed to be working fine. I'm worried there may be some latent damage that could ruin the computer in the future.

on 9/16/2006 Follow user manual instructions or Google how to remove your keyboard. It's basically just a tray with sensors that lies on top of the other stuff in the computer.

In my case (HP Pavilion DV4000) I had to pry off the switch plate, by pressing down keys near the top and snapping it off, then unscrewing the keyboard from the frame.

Check to see if it's looks sticky or very dirty at the back of the keyboard. If it's bad you might want to replace the keyboard.

I spilled a bowl of frosted mini-wheats into mine. Pried off the keys and cleaned it, but underneath (at the back of the keyboard) it was pretty nasty so I found a replacement on eBay.

on 8/8/2006 The primarily goal is to avoid electrical shorts. These are most likely to cause permanent damage to the laptop. Next, get the sticky stuff out before it dries.

* Act quickly - shut down the computer, unplug power and any cables, and remove the battery. Any electricity in the laptop can possibly cause a short - even if it's turned off. Most laptop battery packs can be removed without special tools.

* Tip the laptop sideways, then upside down, preferably away from any CD/DVD/Floppy drive. Tip or shake gently to drain all fluid.

* Here's the hard part: quickly rinse out the keyboard with water, then turn the laptop over as before to drain. Repeat this two or three times. Work quickly - rinse, drain, rinse, drain. Distilled water is best, Brita, Pur, or other filtered water is the next best, but any water will do in a bind.

* Allow to dry completely - ideally for several days before re-installing the battery or plugging it in.

Pouring water into your laptop keyboard on purpose may sound like madness, but face it - it's already soaked! Would you rather have sticky pina colada drying in the keyboard or nice clean water? I've done this successfully - but there are no guarantees with this kind of accident. Good luck!