Keycapscustom

Double shot keycaps are very popular among gamers and those who love keycaps. The technology used to produce them offers us with high-quality ones. Let’s discover it!

What are double shot keycaps?

Firstly, this is one of the most popular techniques that the manufacturers use to produce keycaps. We can call this technique with various names: double-shot moulding, dual-injection moulding, etc. With this process, we can produce durable and high-quality keycaps. In this process, we create 2 layers of plastic around the keycaps. 

This technique is very popular and we have used it for years to produce keyboards. There are lots of companies that use the double-shot moulding to create their own keycaps such as Vortex, Torpe, etc. And, of course, these high-quality keycaps always capture people’s attention.

How are double shot keycaps made?

As you can see from the name, this process includes 2 steps.

Step 1:

Firstly, they plave the legend or image on the keycap. Then, they mould them in plastic. After the first step, they place the keycaps in another mould. In this mould, plastic is inserted. People use heat to merge 2 layers of plastic. After this process, we have a durable keycap. 

This process can be different with each manufacturer. In some cases, this process can create a striped pattern on the keycaps due to the difference of color of plastic. And, this striped pattern can’t be removed. Although it’s visible, some manufacturers can make it invisible. In contrast, other manufacturers use the whole solid first shot so that the keycaps can have a nice appearance. To identify a double-shot keycap, you can look at it from the underside because you can observe the plastic layers.

Step 2:

In terms of the material, most double shot keycaps are made out of ABS plastic. Sometimes, the manufacturers choose different materials for this technique. For instance, they use the Tenite for Cherry M9 keycaps. The reasons why they choose ABS is that other plastics can shrink easily in the moulding process. And, although PBT plastic is also one of the most popular material for double shot keycaps, ABS is preferable due to the cheap price. One backward of this material is that ABS will wear down and give the keycaps a shiny look over time.

When it comes to double shot, we need to talk about the backlighting. Thanks to the special manufacturing process, the light effect of double shot keycaps is amazing. To make the light stunning, the first plastic layer is from translucent plastic so that the light can go through easily.

How to clean double shot keycaps?

With special keycaps, you need to clean them properly so that you can extend their life expectancy. The cleaning steps are very simple. And, before doing anything, you need to make sure that you unplug the keyboard. We should start with some basic and outside cleaning. 

• You need to remove dust from the keyboard by using vacuum. Make sure that you go through every row. And, don’t use too much pressure from the vacuum. 
• Then, you can use cloth to clean the surface of the keyboard. If you don’t have any cloth, wet tissue is fine as well. 
• If you use the wet tissue, now you need to dry the keyboard. Do not use toilet paper at this step.

After finishing the general cleaning for the whole keyboard, you can go on with the double shot keycaps. 

• Remove all keycaps with the keycap puller 
• You need warm water (not hot) and denture cleaning tablets or dish soap.
• Soak the keycaps in the water for at least 5 – 6 hours. 
• Take them out, rise with water and dry them. 
• Now you can replace them back to the keyboard.
• Use a microfiber cloth to wipe the whole keyboard. 

After this process, you can have like-new double shot keycaps. 

In case you pour tea or coffee on your keyboard, don’t panic! You need to unplug the keyboard. Then, you can shake the keyboard so that you can make sure there is no water stay in. And, you can place the keyboard upside down for at least 1 day. After that, you can use your keyboard again. However, if the situation you have is more complicated, I recommend you to seek professional help.

In general, with the development of the technology, we normally use double-shot moulding to create excellent double shot keycaps. You can easily find these keycaps from various famous manufacturers. And, with the huge amount of supply, you can choose the best one for you. In conclusion, even if they are expensive or not, if you want to use them longer, clean them properly.