Cleaning a mechanical keyboard
The rule of thirds
A keyboard does not need stripping to be clean. Three quarters of what spoils the keystroke sits between the keys rather than under the switches, and comes out with no tools at all.
Turn the board upside down over a bin and tap the underside firmly. What falls out will tell you how overdue this was.
The keycaps
Pull them with a wire puller, never a screwdriver: the cross-shaped switch stems split at the slightest twist, and a split stem means a switch to replace.
Caps wash in warm soapy water and dry for twenty-four hours. Photograph the board first, or reassembly becomes a memory exercise.
The chassis
A dry brush and compressed air held upright, never tilted: tilted, the can sprays liquid propellant into the mechanism.
For greasy marks, a microfibre cloth barely damp with isopropyl alcohol. No household cleaner, which leaves a film that dust sticks to twice as fast.