Quick Answer: Lubing a keyboard switch means opening it with a switch opener, brushing a thin, even coat of grease onto the stem legs, housing rails and spring, then snapping it back together — it removes plastic-on-plastic scratchiness and quiets spring ping. Use a thicker grease like Krytox 205g0 for linear switches and a thinner lube like Krytox 105 or Tribosys 3203 for tactiles, since a heavy grease can dull the tactile bump. Expect 3-6 hours for a first full board of 90-100 switches, dropping to 1.5-3 hours once you’ve got a rhythm.
Lubing switches is the single biggest upgrade you can make to a keyboard’s feel and sound short of buying a different board entirely — and it costs about $10-15 in grease that will outlast several keyboards. It’s also fiddly, slow work the first time through. Here’s what the lube actually does, which type goes with which switch, and what to expect for time and tools.
Lube types compared
| Krytox 205g0 | Krytox 105 | Tribosys 3203 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consistency | Thick grease | Thin oil | Semi-fluid grease, thinner than 205g0 |
| Best for | Linear switch stems & rails | Springs, light tactile use | Tactile switch legs |
| Risk if misused | Can mute tactile bump if overapplied | Too thin to fully quiet a scratchy linear | Less common/harder to source than Krytox |
| Typical price | ~$8-12 (3.5g tube) | ~$10-14 (3.5g tube) | ~$10-15 (10g tub) |
Lubing a switch, by the numbers
- A first full board of 90-100 switches typically takes 3-6 hours for a beginner, working switch by switch with an opener and brush; experienced builders with a set station cut that to roughly 1.5-3 hours for the same count, according to enthusiast lubing guides (Hirosart, BGR).
- Krytox 205g0 (thick grease) and Krytox 105 (thin oil) are different grades, not interchangeable strengths — 205g0 is built to coat and stay on stems and rails, while 105 is meant for springs or switches where you don’t want to alter feel much, per lube comparisons from Attack Shark and KNC Keys.
- Applying a thick grease like 205g0 directly to a tactile switch’s leaf spring risks “damping the tactile event” — turning a crisp tactile bump into a mushy near-linear feel — which is why tactile-focused builders reach for thinner lube like 105 or Tribosys 3203 instead.
Switch lube starter kit (Krytox 205g0 + switch opener + brush)
- 205g0 is the standard starting point for lubing linear switches — a small tube lasts through several full keyboards.
- A dedicated switch opener (rather than a screwdriver) avoids cracking switch housings, which thin plastic housings are prone to under repeated prying.
- A size 00 or 0 brush gives enough control to coat rails without pooling grease inside the switch.
Lube kits and switch openers are cheap odds-and-ends that tend to arrive in separate small packages — try Prime free for 30 days and the whole kit lands in two days instead of trickling in over a week.
How to lube a switch, step by step
- Open the switch. Use a switch opener (or fingernails on switches designed to snap apart) to separate the top housing, stem, spring and bottom housing into four pieces.
- Lube the stem. Brush a thin, even coat of grease onto the two legs that slide inside the housing rails — this is where most scratchiness comes from. Avoid the tactile leaf on tactile switches, or use a much thinner lube there.
- Lube the housing rails. A light coat on the inside rails of the bottom housing reduces the same plastic-on-plastic friction from the other side.
- Lube the spring (optional). A very light dab of thin oil, or dry-lubing by shaking springs in a bag with a small amount of grease, cuts down on spring ping/crunch.
- Reassemble. Snap the stem back into the bottom housing, seat the spring, then close the top housing until it clicks.
If that sounds like more effort than you want to spend, several boards in our best budget mechanical keyboard guide, including the Keychron C3 Pro, ship with factory-lubed switches already — a real shortcut if smoothness matters more to you than choosing your own lube and gasket-feel combination covered in our gasket mount keyboard guide.
Is lubing worth it?
- You have a hot-swap board and scratchy stock switches: Yes — it’s the cheapest, biggest feel upgrade available, and hot-swap sockets mean no soldering. See our best hot swappable keyboard picks if you’re shopping for one.
- You want tactile switches to keep their bump: Use a thin lube (Krytox 105 or Tribosys 3203) and go easy on the tactile leaf specifically — thick grease is the most common way builders accidentally kill the bump they wanted.
- Your board is soldered and you don’t want to desolder it: Skip it, or buy pre-lubed switches next time. Desoldering 90+ switches just to lube and resolder them rarely makes sense unless you’re already comfortable with a soldering iron.
- You just want a smoother board with minimal effort: Buy factory pre-lubed switches or a pre-lubed board instead of lubing manually — most major brands now offer at least one pre-lubed SKU.
The bottom line
Lubing keyboard switches means opening each one, coating the stem legs and housing rails with a thin, even layer of grease, and snapping it back together — Krytox 205g0 for linear switches, a thinner lube like Krytox 105 or Tribosys 3203 for tactiles so you don’t flatten the bump. Budget 3-6 hours the first time you do a full 90-100 switch board, less once you’ve got the technique down. If that’s more time than you want to spend, factory pre-lubed switches on boards in our best mechanical keyboard pillar get most of the benefit with none of the disassembly.