I have a Zowie mechanical keyboard with brown Cherry switches. There’s a problem with the lettering on the keycaps. On the most commonly used keys the bright white lettering and become dull grey. I thought they just needed cleaning but I just can’t get the white colour back.
Firstly any suggestions on how to make the lettering white again.
Secondly what should I be looking for if I’m going to replace all of the keycaps. I don’t want to go to the trouble of replacing them all only to have them go grey again. I know there are any number of companies that can offer new keycaps but is there a name or type I should be looking for?
Fresh paint.
That’s the problem with most keyboards, they have somewhat cheap keys. Another issue is that most are worn off quite fast, getting “glossy” and flat instead of the original texture.
If you’re looking for long lasting caps, look for double-shot PBT keycap-masterrace. PBT is more resistent to wearing off (getting glossy) and the double-shot technique makes them resistent to the lettering wearing off because they key caps literally are the letters.
Downside is they’re not exactly cheap. A whole set can cost you easily as much as a new keyboard.
They are not cheap! £40/$50 for double shot and that’s when I can find UK keys. Time for plan B, I have not figured out quite what plan B is but I’ll figure it out.
@Cavemanthe0ne has you with a hook up to cheap and pretty nice PBT caps over on ebay
The Tai Hao caps are pretty good, if a little thin, I have them on one of my boards and they are good. Not sure if you need ISO though for a UK board. But there are also lots of other caps on there too that should be nice and thick in a range of styles and lettering methods.
There are a few ways of getting letters on a keycap. Printing (putting colored stuff on top of the plastic) is usually cheap for manufacturers but doesn’t last as long (tends to fade, chip, etc). Doubleshot is two colors of plastic molded together. Lasts until your finger wears away the entire cap and very sharp contrast between legend and key, but very expensive. Dye sublimation has a dye soak into the plastic a little and turn it black or another dark color (you can’t dye something black to be white). The edges of the legend are a little softer but it’s still very good and lasts basically forever.
PBT plastic feels way better than ABS plastic. It’s hard to explain. It’s worth it.
Here are a few PBT sets with the ISO layout (I’m assuming you have the ISO layout). Can’t vouch for any of these, but they are cheap.