Lubing your mechanical keyboard switches is a right of passage into the mechanical keyboard hobby. The question is, are you ready to bring to bring your keyboard to the next level? If so, it's time to bust out the lube. Let's get started.
Unless you've ordered your switches in a separate bag, you'll need to remove the switches from your keyboard. You'll need to take off your keycaps and pull apart your keyboard and then de-solder the switches from the PCB. This can be quite difficult to do, so we linked a guide here. Always make sure to shut off your keyboard first. If you have a hot-swappable keyboard, you simply take off the keycaps and remove the switches with a switch puller. This is the fastest way to remove switches, so a hot-swappable keyboard can save you a ton of time.
Now that the switch is removed from the keyboard, it's time to pull the switch apart (we have a full guide here). The easiest way is with a switch puller, a specialized tool you can find online or order from a 3d print shop. We typically just use a small flathead screwdriver. You want to work your way around the switch loosening the 4 clips that hold the upper housing and lower housing together. This can be a little difficult at first, but once you get a hang of it, it can be pretty quick. The toughest part is making sure the switch doesn't snap back together once you've loosened one of the clips. It's best to stick your fingernail between the upper and lower housing after you've loosened a clip.
You will need to be a little careful lubing the lower housing. It's best to avoid lubing the metal leaf if possible as it can damage your switch. We recommend lubing the inside floor of the switch, the part where the stem rails hit, and the inside/outside of the cylinder.
There are two main ways to lube the spring:
Once you're done lubing the spring, you can set it on the lower housing while you lube the stem and upper housing. This will help avoid making a mess and getting lube all over your workstation.
Lubing the stem is relatively straightforward, you just need to be careful with the legs. I would only recommend lubing the legs if you have a linear switch. You can lube the legs on a tactile switch, but it will reduce the tactile bump so it's not recommended. Regardless of the switch type, you should lube the rails and the cylindrical area where the spring contacts the stem. If you want to go one step further, you can also apply lube to the other outside area of the stem, but it doesn't improve the smoothness as much.
Lubing the upper housing is super easy. Simply lube the sections where the rails of the stem come in contact with the upper housing. You can ignore the rest of the upper housing.
Congratulations, you've lubed everything! Now it's time to put all of the components back together. The most important part is being extremely careful with the metal leaf. Simply line all of the components up again and snap the switch together. Test to make sure the switch actuates properly and nothing feels wonky. If it does not work right, pull the switch apart again and reassemble.
Now that the switches are lubed, it's time to install them back into your keyboard. If you have a hot swap keyboard, simply press them into the sockets and you should be good to go. If not, you'll need to resolder them to the PCB.
The final step is to plug the keyboard back in and test to make sure the switches work. We like to use this free online tester. Make sure to test the keyboard before putting the whole thing back together. It sucks to put the whole keyboard together and then have to go back and remove the keycaps and disassemble the whole case. If a key doesn't work, it's most likely the switches weren't soldered correctly or they didn't enter the sockets right. If that's not the issue, it's possible the metal leaf inside the switches is damaged, in which case you'll most likely need a new switch.
Harrington, J. (2023, March 30). How to Lube Keyboard Switches: A complete guide. Switch and Click. Source webpage