Why do keyboards have faded keys?
Before we dive into the solutions, let's see why keyboard letters wear out in the first place. This would also help to understand how can one prevent it from happening.
Example of keyboard wear and tear.
The main reason is the friction caused by your fingers typing (moving, hitting, sliding). Moreover, the following reasons make the wearing off process much faster (or visible at all):
- Poor quality materials: Most keyboards are made with low-quality plastic and paints that easily wear off with use. It even doesn't really matter if you buy an expensive laptop or not. It's probably expensive because of the internal stuff or display, but the keyboard will still be most of the time a plastic with a cheap paint on it. It can happen even for Macs or Lenovo ThinkPads (although newer models would have keys that lose their matt-finished surface and start to "shine").
- Constant use: Over time, the friction from your fingers can wear down the letters and background paint on your keyboard. This can happen especially to heavy keyboard users - gamers (especially on WASD keys), bloggers, researchers, writers.
- UV exposure: Prolonged exposure to sunlight or artificial light can cause the letters to fade or change in color. This is especially visible on white keyboards (hey, hey Magic Keyboards) which turn yellowish, or dark blue ones turning greenish/grayish.
- Long fingernails: Uncut fingernails, and especially artificially lengthened fingernails contribute to additional scratches and cracks on keys.
- All of the above together: You can now clearly see that combining low-quality materials, constant use and light exposure will make your keyboard keys fade, sooner or later, with smaller or greater visible "effect".
4 types of keyboard wear and tear + REAL SOLUTIONS
1. Faded letters and keys
These are the extreme examples of keyboard wear and tear combined with poor quality keyboard materials. Symptoms include worn off paint, paint discoloring and fading in intensity, illegible letters and blobs of gray/white plastic seen underneath, usually with equally-shaped blobs of keyboard backlight.
Solution: replacement keyboard stickers
Our customers invest in these for two reasons: their keys are faded or worn-out, or they're switching the keyboard layout.
Replacement keyboard stickers perfectly mimic how your keyboard looks brand new. They can have a background color of your choice (most commonly black) and the symbols (letters, digits, icons, arrows etc) are printed. This can be customized too by choosing the symbols color and keyboard layout (maybe you want to type in Colemak after all).
These stickers have also a protective clear layer on top (which most cheap stickers online doesn't have), which prevents the stickers from wearing out. It's silly to buy wearing-out stickers to fix the wearing-out keyboard problem, don't you agree?
2. "Shiny Key Syndrome"
Solution I: transparent keyboard stickers
These serve as a clear, barely visible barrier to your finger oils and frictions from typing. They don't change how your keyboard looks. They don't affect how you type and won't thicken up your keyboard significantly. They don't block the backlight in any way. They can be custom made to perfectly fit any keyboard you have. They are easy to apply and remove (without any goo left).
We have many repeat customers who purchases another transparent set when they switch a laptop. This is especially true for MacBooks, where spending $35 for stickers to protect a keyboard in a $1500-2500 laptop is a wise investment for many folks.
Even if somehow these transparent stickers get damaged, you can just replace them with new ones. It's easier and cheaper way than leaving your keyboard unprotected and deal with worn out keys later.
- keeps matt surface and reduces screen glare
- allows 100% backlight
- prevents from getting more keyboard damage
- long-lasting solution, but not permanent
- safe to apply and remove anytime
- thinnest possible, 50 microns only
These are the same as in point no 1. Replacement stickers bring back the flawless, uniform matt or satin-matt finish to your keyboard. No more shine. You can watch a comparison review of silicone cover and our replacement keyboard stickers done by Jerry Schulze below to fix "glossy" keys.
- replaces the whole key surface, you can barely notice that there's a sticker
- covers and hides the damage with new symbols and color
- prevents from getting more keyboard damage
- long-lasting solution, but not permanent
- safe to apply and remove anytime
- include protective, clear surface: up to 100 microns in total thickness
Sometimes bad things happen and that knife falls on the keyboard. Or that soldering iron you're using to wire electric circuits slipped. Or maybe you spilled some acid, which gobbled up the keyboard surface. These damages have one thing in common - an uneven key surface, with dents, holes, or scratches.
Solution: keycap or whole keyboard replacement
You can replace the damaged keycaps with new ones. Some laptop/keyboard manufacturers offer replacement keycap sets. This is a great option if only a few keys are affected.
It can be a problem installing it though, as key mechanisms are tiny, delicate, and can be damaged easily. Probably only a mechanical keyboard with replaceable keycaps is the "easy" option here.
You can also replace the whole keyboard. There are few problems though:
- You have to find the keyboard for the right laptop model, in your desired layout. Unfortunately, some manufacturers block the availability of some keyboard layouts in certain countries and regions. You can't easily buy a Japanese keyboard in Europe. This could be a serious problem for expats living in another continent.
- You have to replace the old keyboard. In modern laptops this means disassembling the whole device, which should probably be done by professionals with the right tools and knowledge.
- This is economically sound for a severely damaged keyboard. Most of people would prefer to dump the whole thing.
- It's money intensive and time consuming. You have to buy the new keyboard, wait for the delivery, pay for the repair, wait for it to be repaired and returned to you.
4. Yellow stains on Magic Keyboard & white ABS keyboards
White keyboards - especially made with ABS plastic - given the sunlight or artificial light and time, will turn yellowish. It may look like dirt or dust, but it's the dye itself and unfortunately cannot be "cleaned".
Solution: replacement keyboard stickers with white background
These are the same as in points no 1 and 2, but they mimic white keyboards. They have white background and (usually) black symbols printed on them. Again, these stickers have also a protective clear layer on top (which most cheap stickers online doesn't have), which prevents the stickers from wearing out. Even if the white dye in stickers gets yellowish, you can just easily replace them with a new, fresh set.
Myths on preventing keyboard fading
Now that we know the reasons behind fading keyboard letters and solutions to that, let's explore some common myths related to keeping the keyboard from wearing out and why these advices don't work.
1. Cleaning your keyboard regularly will prevent fading
Regular cleaning will remove the oils and dirt and definitely doing that will make typing more comfortable. But it has almost nothing to do with keys wearing out. Keyboards fade and wear out mainly because of friction caused by your fingers moving, hitting and sliding over keys, over time.
You will still need to clean the dust from keyboard under the cover and remove it from time to time. This will expose your keyboard to elements and - again - frictions. Also, silicone covers are flexible, which means that you will still cause frictions - not from your fingers - but from flexing and moving silicone. Add some dust between silicone and keys, and you will have more friction.
Also, silicone covers thicken up your keyboard and change the way you type - so if you type a lot - this could be frustrating.
The ultimate solution to prevent the keyboard from any damage
- Have clean and aesthetic look for years to come
- Keep the maximum value of your equipment
- Brand new look = easy to sell once it's time for a change
- Perfect-fit size and full backlight compatibility
What if you want something more personalized? Check out these decorative keyboard stickers or go wild and create your custom set.
By utilizing the solutions mentioned above, you can keep your keyboard keys looking vibrant and legible for a long time. If you find this article useful, please spread the word by using the icons below. Thanks!
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