A non polar solvent should work. It is used in hexane in organic chemistry lab to clean non polar stuff. Alcohol is less polar than water, but a lot more polar than hexane. WD40 is not a good choice, it would be best to use Carb Cleaner or even better to use Brake Cleaner; but all of them would leave a residue. The best bet as far as solvent goes is to use Electronic Contact Cleaner (which can be bought at your local Radio Shark store). <div> <div>On 5/3/07, Richard Houser <<a href="mailto:rick@divinesymphony.net" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> rick@divinesymphony.net</a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> Rubbing Alcohol is only guaranteed to be isopropyl alcohol in this country.  Elsewhere, it could either be ethanol or denatured alcohol (can't recall which) plus a contaminate to keep people from drinking it. Alternatively, WD40 might be useful depending on the materials.  WD40 is ideal for washing many electronics. Michael Rudas wrote: > On 5/2/07, Dan Ryan wrote: > >> Take a bit of isopropyl alcohol (not rubbing alcohol; it contains carnuba >> wax and that will leave a residue.) > > WRONG!  Rubbing alcohol is just water and 50 to 70% alcohol, no wax... > Alcohol is a poor solvent for sugar, anyway. > > Speaking as a 50-year-veteran electronic repairman/technician, a much > better solution is distilled water with some ammonia in it (a few > drops per ounce is enough)-- a good surfactant that leaves no residue. > > The bigger problem is removing the keycap, something that an > inexperienced person is gonna have a lot of trouble doing-- unless you > know the trick (a picture would sure help here): > > 1.  Take two standard paper clips and bend them straight. > > 2.  Bend square hooks near the center of each one so that it resembles > a "U" with a square bottom about 1/2 inch wide and very long tines. > This is your new keycap removal tool! > > 3.  Grasping one clip in each hand, slip the square bottom/center part > of each under diagonal corners of the keycap until the tines touch the > edges of the key. > > 4.  Pull straight up, gently (a very slight rocking motion may help), > with even tension on each clip, until the cap pops off.  "Gentle" is > the word here-- you don't want the cap flying off to $DIETY knows > where... > > 5.  Use the ammonia+water solution on a slightly-moistened cotton swab > to clean as much of the coffee off as possible, but not moist enough > to flood the keyboard internals, if possible. > > 6.  Mop up with a dry swab. > > 7.  Repeat steps 5 & 6 a couple of times, at least, with clean swabs. > > The keycap should snap right back on when you are done, and things > should be OK-- most modern keyboards are at least semi-shielded > against spills. > > -- Mikey > _______________________________________________ > linux-user mailing list > <a href="mailto:linux-user@egr.msu.edu" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> linux-user@egr.msu.edu</a> > <a href="http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user </a> _______________________________________________ linux-user mailing list <a href="mailto:linux-user@egr.msu.edu" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">linux-user@egr.msu.edu</a> <a href="http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user</a> </blockquote></div> </div>