why is dust on your keyboard bad for it?

Question

I have a keyboard plugged to my laptop. I never clean the laptops keyboard and yet friends and family constantly tell me that dust isn't good for the keyboard. I recently saw an ad in an electronics store that offered to clean your laptop inside and out for $40. I used that laptops keyboard and it worked fine.

Is this just a myth or is dust bad for your keyboard. Have any of you lost a keyboard because of dust?

Answer 1

the keyboard isn't the part of the computer that is adversely affected by dust (LOL)...the problem arises when dust bunnies buildup inside the computer, it effects the cooling capability of the laptop, and, slowly, the computer overheats...when it overheats it's much like overheating an engine in your car...the whole thing shuts down. If this overheating gets bad enough, it could fry the processor or other vital components and then you have a big problem. Because laptops have significantly less space for air to circulate, heat is a more serious problem in laptops than desktops. Fortunatly for you, keyboards don't have cooling passages going through them, so dust is not a problem for that particular component ;)

Answer 2

I mean when you have waaay to much stuff in your keyboard, it might affect the clicking of buttons, just because there is so much stuff, that it gets in the way. The reality is all keyboards are dirty. I mean there is so much dust in the air and it get everywhere. But It wont affect the performance. The keyboards have very basic electronics in them. Infact you can wash them in the dish washer - not the laptop though. I had my laptop for 5 years and the keyboard works fine. Dust is not that big of a deal. If you are really worried about it, just get some of the compressed air stuff from your local office max or a computer store and run that though the keyboard, other than that you don't need any special cleaning. If you did you would have that worning written in the computer manual everywhere. And if it was that big a deal, then alot more people would be telling you to clean your keyboard.