The best tool to clean the actual surface of the keyboard is probably a toothbrush. When it comes to mechanical keys, the switches are generally soldered on, so you’re probably not going to be removing them. That means you’ll have to spend some time working around a lot of crevices. Rags and paper towels seemed like the best strategy at first, but the tops of the switches will ultimately get in the way. Ultimately a thin brush will be most effective. (For the keys themselves, a container with soap and water, mixed with a rag, more than does the job.)
I favor the left command key over the right one. The way that I learned this was incredibly strange. I tapped the command key after setting it back up and realized that the device felt more textured than usual. It was subtle, sure, but I definitely noticed. Sure enough, it turned out that I put my right key on my left key. It was modestly mind-blowing to realize.
Does putting foam in a keyboard have an effect? Not really. The reason why I did this in the first place was because I was listening to audio from interviews I’ve recently done, and I’ve realized that the mechanical keyboard I use sometimes gets in the way of the audio I record. (It uses blue switches,
which, as I’ve written, are the loud ones.) I read online that putting foam at the bottom of the keyboard possibly reduces vibration, and I just happened to have some foam I could stick into the keyboard. Did it really have an effect? Well … uh, not really. But it still got me to clean my keyboard, and now you get to read me pondering it.
I’m the Henry David Thoreau of the internet. Yes, I said it.