First of all, I don't know if this is REALLY really reliable (A.K.A. that does work to have it fixed forever), but as far as I have tested it, it does work way more time than when I tried the classic "blowing" method.

As I have no idea how to disassemble my NDSL, I did try recently using a thin stick to get the dirt off the gaps in the shoulder buttons of my NDSL, which had a unresponsive shoulder button problem...and it seems to work fully responsively and constantly!

Simply grab a thin stick or something thin to clean the shoulder button gaps. I used one of these: https://http2.mlstatic.com/palitos-de-altura-30-cm-D_NQ_NP_767305-MLV20847375612_082016-F.jpg

Then use the thin stick, and keep brushing the gaps off for a while, and then check if it's now working.
I can confirm for myself (at least) that it does give a good fix to the shoulders! Just was trying with Mario Kart DS, and works pretty well.

Hopefully this gets work for everyone else!

 

[Clydefrosch]

maybe use a toothbrush with hard bristles instead. good enough to get into the small spaces andget the dirt out with less chance to break something

the thing is, yeah, if your button is so gunked up that you can't really click it anymore, cleaning certainly is a good way to start, but most of the time, the unresponsive button problem is caused by the buttons contact getting dirty and thus unresponsive as the signal doesn't always make it through anymore. blowing into it adds humidity meaning its easier to close the circuit and get the signal through. however, the humidity eventually causes more gunk making it worse in the long run.

 

[BARNWEY]

maybe use a toothbrush with hard bristles instead. good enough to get into the small spaces andget the dirt out with less chance to break something

the thing is, yeah, if your button is so gunked up that you can't really click it anymore, cleaning certainly is a good way to start, but most of the time, the unresponsive button problem is caused by the buttons contact getting dirty and thus unresponsive as the signal doesn't always make it through anymore. blowing into it adds humidity meaning its easier to close the circuit and get the signal through. however, the humidity eventually causes more gunk making it worse in the long run.

That's when you use a good ol' can of compressed air...

 

[britain4]

Probably fine as a temp fix but I wouldn't trust it long term. This and this should help although if it was me I'd be soldering some new switches in/getting someone else to do it.

 

[Clydefrosch]

That's when you use a good ol' can of compressed air...

thats really not doing much, the only thing 'blowing' into it fixes is get it humid, making it easier to close the circuit to send the 'button pressed' signal.
its not really cleaning anything. you need a cotton swab and alcohol to actually fix this.
at least thats how it is for the dsphat.

the dslite seemed to have most of its problems caused by switches being pushed in too hard to the point where clicking the button down would not close the circuit mechanically as it should. pushing down even harder sometimes still made it work. there, humidity too would probably help too up to a certain point, though its even more of a temporary fix as it was on the phat.

 

[BARNWEY]

thats really not doing much, the only thing 'blowing' into it fixes is get it humid, making it easier to close the circuit to send the 'button pressed' signal.
its not really cleaning anything. you need a cotton swab and alcohol to actually fix this.
at least thats how it is for the dsphat.

the dslite seemed to have most of its problems caused by switches being pushed in too hard to the point where clicking the button down would not close the circuit mechanically as it should. pushing down even harder sometimes still made it work. there, humidity too would probably help too up to a certain point, though its even more of a temporary fix as it was on the phat.

I was thinking more on the topic of dirt, if you get a can of compressed air you could use it to clean your shoulder buttons (albeit not as thoroughly.) Blowing into the button can help, but the enzymes in our saliva degrade the hardware over time; not to mention all the gunk that is also attracted.

 

[Hanafuda]

The shoulder buttons are actuating a microswitch. The best fix is disassembling the shell and blasting those micro switches with contact cleaner.