I spilled tea on my Toshiba laptop and now keys won't work

T, G, B keys will not work following have been splashed with ice tea. Is there anyway I can fix this at home w/o taking it into a computer repair shop? If so please give me detailed instructions designed for those of us w/o an MIS degreee. I have a Toshiba laptop. Thanks!

Bury it in a large box of rice. Make sure that it's upside down & opened so the keyboard touches the rice. Don't cook the rice first.

OMG!!!!!! You could you use a few less caps and exclamation points.


It's easy to replace a keyboard. Unfortunately, I'm most likely sure your Iced Tea had more sugar than tea. In that case, rice won't work.

With some Isopropylene and a few Q-tips and a ton of patience, you may be able to rectify the situation. However, It's easier to just pay the $30 for a new keyboard. Some plugs, a few screws and its all better.

Isopropylene is not so easy to get.

1. Disassemble.
2. Wash in warm soapy tap water.
3. Rinse in distilled water.
4. Leave to dry thoroughly.
5. Reassemble.

This has worked for both fruit juice and for coffee!

Before anybody else says it... allowing drinks near the notebook a second time was the triumph of hope over experience!

a) Turn your computer upside down and lay it flat for a day.
b) Take it apart using the instructions in your model's manual.
c) Clean it off carefully with a diluted solution of water and rubbing alcohol.
d) Leave it to dry overnight
e) Put laptop back together
f) Avoid leaving any drinks near your computer. The convenience isn't worth it.

Have any of you that suggest disassembling a laptop ever tried taking one apart? If you can get it apart and back together without breaking something you are a better man than me.

To make things clear, you do NOT have to disassemble an entire laptop to clean or replace a keyboard. Laptop keys can be easily removed and replaced to clean under them and as GT500Shlby suggested, in most cases, it's probably cheapest and easiest to just replace the keyboard, although I will add, that not all laptops make it easy to replace. To date, Dell's are the easiest I've seen to replace the keyboards. The manuals typically do NOT tell you how to do it, and you'll most likely need to get specific instructions from your manufacturer's customer support.

Alternatively you could just plug in a cheap USB keyboard and be back in business in two shakes of a lambs tail.

I have successfully fully disassembled a laptop and reassemble a laptop that worked perfectly and didn't have any extra screws.

However, that was 3-years ago and it took me an entire day. I didn't enjoy the experience.

Although - some laptops have easy to remove keyboards. I know Lenovo keyboards are fairly easy to remove.

With that I do not recommend soapy water, unless you are using De-Ionized Water or distilled water. As far as soap, a non-residue leaving soap may work, but a lot of soaps have alkalines in them that could cause shorts even after dry.

The best bet is alcohol: Either Denatured Alcohol or Isopropyl alcohol. However make sure its 90% IPA : 10% DI Water or higher. It isn't hard to find. IPA is available at any supermarket or pharmacy.

Denatured Alcohol is available at any Boating Supply Store and any furniture making shop. You can also find it at your local home improvement retailer like Home Depot, Lowes in the US or Homebase, B&Q over the pond.

Yuck... There are computer repair places but if it's old, honestly, just get a new laptop. Nobody wants to type on sticky keys.