How do you properly clean a phone keyboard without damaging it?

The most important thing is to completely shut down your computer and remove the battery before doing anything, otherwise you risk a short circuit and then it's really screwed. After that, you can lightly dip a cotton swab in isopropyl alcohol (or distilled water if you don't have that) and go under each sticky key, being careful not to put too much moisture. Honestly, I saved my old keyboard like that when I spilled coffee on it while I was proofreading a text to translate, and it worked like a charm. Let it dry for a few hours before turning it back on, and if it's still sticky after a couple days, then you'll see if you really need to send it to Asus.

I had the same issue with coffee spilled on my keyboard two years ago, and honestly I didn't take any chances - I just let it dry completely for three days without touching anything, computer closed. After that I used a soft brush and compressed air to clear out the sticky stuff between the keys, really gently. For the keys that were really stuck, I dipped a cotton swab in a bit of isopropyl alcohol (you can find it everywhere in 2026) and ran it really quickly around the mechanisms without soaking them. That saved me without paying Asus's huge bill, so honestly before you take anything apart or get anything wet, just try evaporation and dry cleaning first.