My Keyboard Cover Incident . . .

Have you ever brought a cup of coffee to your computer (as I am right now), only to spill it all over your keyboard? Or have you ever had your toddler knock a can of soda onto it?

Any time a liquid comes in contact with a computer keyboard it almost always means that it’s time for a new keyboard. You can avoid this type of costly mistake by purchasing and using a keyboard cover. In fact, this item which costs a mere fraction of what a new keyboard does should be routinely used by everyone.

It’s just as if you covered yourself up when you went out in the rain. You should cover up your keyboard to protect it against the “elements.” In the case of human beings, a raincoat or an umbrella keeps you warm and dry in the event that nature isn’t cooperative. In the case of a keyboard cover, your keyboard remains dry and safe when liquids are in close proximity.

One rule that many families have in place, very soon after a new computer enters their home is that — no food or drinks are allowed near it! This isn’t an easy rule to follow and usually within a few weeks of the new computer’s debut, someone has a beverage sitting near it (ok, so this is about me again).

The problem is that accidents do happen. You can be extremely careful but inevitably at some point, something will happen and the drink will spill. It might be a quick movement to answer the phone or a little one running in the room to show you something. Without a keyboard cover in place, the liquid will quickly seep between the keys and into the heart of the keyboard.

After an accident like this some or all of the keys will usually stick. This is extremely frustrating to anyone trying to use the keyboard. You may think you can clean it by running a cloth between the keys, but this really does little good as the liquid has fallen well below what a cloth can reach. Others try to use pressurized air to clean the keyboard. Again, this isn’t wise as it can in fact dry the liquid onto the sensitive electronic parts of the keyboard instead of cleaning it out.

There are only two effective ways to avoid damage to a keyboard because of a spill. The first is to follow your own initial rule and to not have liquids near the computer. The other is to use a keyboard cover.

You may shy away from the idea of it because you are fearful that you’ll have trouble typing or the cover will slow down your typing speed. With an inexpensive keyboard cover this may actually be the case. However many that are available are made to custom fit specific types of keyboards so that they don’t interfere with your typing at all. This is definitely the type you’ll want to consider when buying one.