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My 1.5 year old son decided to test if my keyboard was compatible with the remains of a can of Red Bull, which obviously wasn't empty enough.

It only affected a few keys, so it was somewhat easy to clean up, using isopropyl alcohol under them, and made sure they were nice and clean.

Now that I've sorted out the sticky keys, I've noticed that they don't behave the same way they used to - There seems to be a lot more friction in them than before, and I'm thinking that I cleaned out some lubricant in the process or that the plastic isn't as smooth as it should be. Either way, I think lubrication should be an easy fix.

Which lubricant should I use on what seems to me as some PVC-like type of plastic? Preferably something dielectric, as I'm likely to use it other places too.

I tried white lithium grease, and while it helped some, it doesn't seem to be fit for the purpose, as it's not viscous enough.

Using a logitech k360.

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    The root problem is keyboard manufacturers rely on a perfectly smooth plastic surface to make a perfect keypress experience and no-binding. After 100 thousand uses, that surface gets skuffed. Any friction causes a rotational torque causing a jam, bind, squeak, or difficulty. WD-40 and vasline and silicone makes things worse because either it quickly dries out and denatures the plastic, or the viscosity is too thin or too much and now you're back to square one. Keyboard manufacturers have made sure keyboard lubrication requires a $150 investment plus hours of time to get right.
    – Eric Leschinski
    May 28, 2020 at 14:38

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This question seems to be almost exactly the same as yours. Basic run down of the advice given: graphite based lubricants (not recommended: RockPaperLizard pointed out graphite is electrically conductive and probably not well suited for this task) , an all synthetic lubricant like "Super Lube" (don't use anything petroleum based), and replacing the keys.

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    Graphite is electrically conductive due to an open covalent bonding site. Although it might not hurt your keyboard, I wouldn't recommend graphite lubricants (especially in powder form) around microelectronics.
    – RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket
    Jun 2, 2015 at 22:34
  • Good point, I'll edit my answer
    – Matt Walck
    Jun 2, 2015 at 22:37
  • @MattWalck: Even though this question is closed I've edited your answer to remove the link to the SU rip-off site.
    – Karan
    Jun 3, 2015 at 22:48
  • Appreciate that, good catch.
    – Matt Walck
    Jun 3, 2015 at 23:18
  • @RockPaperLizard Someone has reported good results with graphite powder.
    – SO_fix_the_vote_sorting_bug
    Apr 11, 2020 at 9:58

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