Hi there, folks. I am here with a quick how-to article. I got the idea from a situation I saw while working at a hot-desking location. Now don’t judge me, but I just had to laugh when it happened. The guys reaction was hilarious. It kinda went like this 
Seriously though, that’s how the guy’s face looked when a colleague brushed his Triple grande sugar free vanilla latte and it went all over the keyboard on his laptop.
You know how things like that seem to happen in slow motion? While his expression was really funny, I shouldn’t be laughing at the guy. Accidents do happen, and I am going to tell you how to avoid running through 20 emotions in 2 seconds, from shock to anger to pain, all in 2 seconds. Just look at that gif.
So what should you do when you spill a liquid on your notebook? Now I’m not talking about simply spilling stuff on the surface its on. The small rubber feet will give it those precious inches of clearance and you will be fine.
I’m talking about spilling all over your keyboard and soaking through the keyboard into the guts of your laptop. Now you can start to go through emotions like my friend above or you can just STOP right now and listen to me.
Have I got your attention? Do the following steps, right NOW, to save your laptop, then you can freak out.
Ready?
Ok.
Step 1: Turn off your laptop. Don’t waste time going through the normal shut down process. Whack your finger/thumb on that power button,and turn your computer off.
Step 2: Remove the battery from your laptop. Pull out all peripherals and USB connections as quickly as possible. There is no time for niceties of properly disconnecting them right now.
Step 3: Examine the area the laptop is in. Is it sitting in a puddle? If so, immediately move the machine away from there. Take a soft washcloth, and dab at visible spots and drops of the liquid. Speed is of the essence, my friend. Mop up what you can see.
Step 4: I hope you have a mental idea of the exact area where the liquid spilled. Now tilt / turn your laptop upside down, in the direction of that area. We want to ensure we run off and out any excess liquid still inside your laptop.
Step 5: You can give it a little shake to get any drops loose. Just ensure it is held upside down in the region where the spillage occurred.
Step 6: Now comes the hard part. You have to wait. Place the laptop in an upside down position so it forms a V-shape, resting on its screen and opposite end (or should that be an A? Hmmm…) You have to wait at least 24 hours to give the remaining liquid a chance to evaporate.
Now you may have come across the urban legend of using rice as a drying agent . While some have reported this working for smaller gadgets like tablets and smartphones, I wouldn’t advise you to do so for your laptop.
Step 7: Still with me? That’s great. Assuming 24 hours has passed, lets assemble our cleaning tools. Get the correct sized screwdriver that fits your laptop’s screws, some rubbing alcohol, and a few soft cloths or a few Q-tips. Also have a small bowl close by to keep the screws you take off in, you need to be careful with these, as they are easily misplaced.
Step 8: Unscrew back plates, raise the keyboard, and remove any other components that you can get to. Remove those parts by removing the screws holding them. Some bits are not meant to be moved by the consumer, and should be left alone. Usually by the time you get to them, you will have stripped the laptop to its frame.
To prevent getting a nasty shock and a trip to Casualty, please ground your self by wearing a wrist grounder before you start poking around in there. You don’t want to generate any static electricity and fry the micro components in there. Ok?
Now let the cleaning begin.
Step 9: Wet the tip/corner of the cloth with rubbing alcohol and steadily go over all the components, very gently wiping them. This is to remove any residue that will have been left if the drink spilled is anything other than water. For any parts that have a buildup of residue or remaining stickiness, wipe them more than once, until all the residue is gone.
Take your time and wipe them very gently and set aside to air dry. Please don’t go rushing to connect and hook everything up again. Set in an area where it will not be disturbed and air can get at it.
Another urban legend asks you to do this then use a hair dryer to speed up the process. THAT IS A BIG NO!! The heat will cause static problems. If the temperature is turned high, you can melt some of the delicate plastic components inside your computer, so please don’t use this.
Be patient and leave to air dry. 36 hours gives it enough time to get well and truly dry. Just before final reassembly, go over the computer nooks and crannies with a can of compressed air. I use this cheap one from ASDA. Spray the air in short blasts all around the fan, the intake and outtake vents, in corners that you normally wouldn’t be able to reach. Now that it’s all open, it might as well get a proper spring clean.
Ensure you put each component back, exactly the way it was and if in doubt, look it up on the manufacturers site, or on YouTube. When fixing components, ensure the screws are well tightened and nothing is loose or rattling around.
If any of my directions were not clear, watch this guy disassemble a laptop; he’s a pro.
Your laptop should boot up perfectly if the spillage was caught in time. While you can take as many precautions as possible, accidents do happen. Consider buying a keyboard cover, if you consider yourself accident prone. With this article, you have the procedure to rescue your laptop from permanent damage, if you act quickly and keep a calm head.
In closing, let me point out that many manufacturers will consider opening up the laptop as a breach of warranty. It is up to you to decide if you want to save your notebook or make an alternative choice.
Have you rescued a laptop from liquid damage? Or did the liquid fry your computer? Let us know your experience in the comments below.
Cheers!