Loosening Stiff and Sticky Typewriter Keys 

Thank you for posting! I inherited my grandfathers typewriter and the center keys are seized pretty bad, going to use your technique to try to free them up.

Excellent!!!!!

Tysm!! This was super super helpful! I’m glad only two keys are stuck on mine 😂!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Bought a portable Brother Charger 11 on Marketplace. Then found out the E key was stuck. Got the Mineral Spirits and a Qtip and follow your instructions and like magic the E key worked immediately. So happy.

Thank you. I'm having this problem with the damn A key!

Super helpful, thank you!

Thank you for the excelent and very useful video. For some reason mine became even more sticky after I did this (I used rubbing alcohol with 96% concentration as a guy did on another video) Any ideas on what might have gone wrong? I am planning on taking it to a professional repairist this week.

mineral spirits - is that white spirits or mineral turpentine?

For some reason the key will loosen up while cleaning with mineral spirits and then stick again after a while. Do I just need to continue cleaning it?

What if the key won't go up at all? A bunch of my right-hand keys (p 1/4 ; @ . /) aren't moving at all.

will rubbing alcohol work also?

There is only one way to clean typewriters, remove all the plates, and the rubber gear., place it in a tub big enough to accommodate it with room to move the machine around. Use white spirit (mineral turps) add a little white oil, and scrub it with soft brushes , pick the segment out using a segment pic, cut the bristles short on a 1/2 " brush to scrub the type. If the segment is still clogged remove the type bars and put it in the tub again .........When its clean and dry, lightly oil the segment and carriage raills and other moving parts.

Thanks! This helped my typewriter keys.