Keycaps getting shiny

I used to think it was just oils from my skin making my keycaps shiny, but for quite a while now even after thoroughly cleaning the keycaps, they’re still shiny and smooth.

I think the finish has worn off. The most-used keys are most worn, of course, and the lesser-used keys are much nicer to the touch than the worn ones.

This is a shame. Is this happening to other people, or just me?

I don’t think it’s my cleaning process, since I clean all the keys, and the less-used ones are still matte and finely textured.

I wonder if any changes in the finishing process could prevent this in future keycap sets?

I’m not too bothered about these particular keycaps since I’ll be replacing them with a mixture of Dvorak, Linear A, and unpainted once those arrive, but if the finishing process is the same, I’ll be sad to have their finishes wear off too.

I’ve never seen painted keycaps that -don’t- get shiny with use. (It’s happened to all of my macbooks)

That doesn’t mean the finish is wearing off. (The underlayer of paint is matte and would be flaking off if the UV protectant coat was actually being removed.)

As a side note, you should be cleaning the keycaps with nothing harsher than water. Alcohol and other solvents will destroy the UV-protectant coat -and- the paint.

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This is a shame. I assume there’s no good solution or it would have been implemented?

I think I’d prefer if all the keys started shiny, if there’s nothing that can be done to make the texture more resilient, since the non-uniform look isn’t too good in my opinion.

Ah, this would have been good to know over in this “cleaning the keycaps” thread. Glad I know before the new keycaps arrive, at least.

I’ve managed to break through the paint entirely on my left shift. My thumbnail’s furthest edge seems to have cracked through everything down to the translucent plastic. Not sure that can be helped regardless of production methods though.

Yup. They’re supposedly being more careful about the clear coat on the subsequent runs, but at the end of the day, paint is paint.