ALPS switches, especially the 1st gen, or else otherwise known as Pine ones, are considered by many keyboard enthusiasts, to be one of the most, if not the most, excellent feeling and sounding switches ever made and a pleasure to type on. And I agree, they are indeed excessively pleasant both in sound and feel.
However, they are notorious in being fragile and are prone to getting deteriorated in many and various ways, very easily. A mediocre conditioned ALPS switch, in comparison to an excellent condition one, is just awful. This is widely known and is a bad fact about them, which leads people not appreciating them because they have not gotten the full experience of a good ALPS board. Therefore I think, a guide about restoring, as much as possible, their condition to as close to factory new, is greatly needed.
I will list all the issues, that I have found and think that are common to them and will provide my research, results and hopefully appropriate solutions for fixing each one. I will provide photos, notes, information and videos wherever possible. Please note, that this is a work in progress, so stay tuned and if something is missing, please let me know in a comment. I will try to update it on a regular basis, with new content. I am encouraging everyone to contribute to it in an way they can.
Maybe this one will end up on the Wiki when it gets finished
Definitions
Condition rating
This will be a definition of a scale of the "condition" of ALPS switches. Each rating, will have specific requirements for the switch to meet, that are as objective and measurable as easy and as much as possible. This is essential in order to have a reference or basis for being able to properly discuss, compare and identify the approximate condition of a switch. I will try to include, every related aspect of a switch. For instance, the feeling of a press and a release, how it sounds, if it is having some particular issues and how much etc.
This will also help in general, to understand and know what a 10/10 condition switch should be like.

Tools
These are the tools that will be used with almost all of the guides. They will make the tasks easier as I have used them over and over and have done almost anything with them and therefore are recommended. I will give only their generic description, and will not recommend some specific brand or model. I leave this to the reader to decide and choose whatever he or she likes.
Tweezer with a flat tip Tweezer with a flat tip smaller Tweezer with a curved pointed tip Common Issues
Upstroke click

Stick-slip press

Binding

Keys not registering

How to
Pull out a keycap

Open up a switch in place

Put back a switch in place

Check and verify the switch parts
