This post sharing how to clean battery corrosion in remote control contains affiliate links which means that if you make a purchase after clicking a link, I will receive a small portion of the sale, at no additional cost to you.
How to Clean Battery Corrosion & Save Your Remote
My family recently started spending more time in our family room instead of our living room where we had been watching television for the past two years.
After using the area as storage for a long time we finally decided to make it family-friendly and redecorated the area.
When we got ready to watch our first movie in our newly decorated space, our plans were interrupted by a remote that stopped working due to battery corrosion.
The remote had been in storage for years and we never expected it to be sitting so long so we didn’t remove the batteries before storing it.
Instead of wasting money by ordering a new one and waiting a few days to get it in the mail, I decided to try to clean the battery corrosion myself.
What you will Need to Clean the Battery Corrosion & Save your Remote:
Vinegar (click it to see which kind I use)
Fresh batteries, such as Energizer® EcoAdvanced™ batteries which you can pick up by clicking here.
How to Clean Battery Corrosion in Remote Control
Dip your cotton swab into the vinegar and lightly scrape against the corrosion build up inside the battery compartment.
Try not to saturate the area with excess liquid and use a little bit at a time to prevent getting liquid into the wiring inside.
If your battery corrosion is not being phased by the vinegar try adding a little baking soda to the vinegar for a tougher clean.
Use another cotton swab to dry out the leftover vinegar and battery corrosion before replacing batteries.
It is helpful to keep this batter corrosion cleaner on hand but you don’t have to have it premixed. Keeping a bottle of vinegar in your home is useful for many common household problems, beyond battery corrosion.
See how I clean my microwave easily using vinegar by clicking here.
Will this Method Work for Car Battery Corrosion?
Yes! This method works great for almost all battery corrosion issues although the application method may change depending on the surface you are cleaning.
When cleaning battery corrosion off of a car battery, instead of using a cotton swab, use a toothbrush instead.
This type of abrasive bristle can help get the caked-on corrosion off of your battery much easier than a cotton swab.
I chose Energizer® EcoAdvanced™because it is the world’s first AA battery made with 4% recycled batteries and is Energizer’s longest-lasting battery.
Try it! Power your most critical devices AND have less impact on the planet!
They are easy to find in the battery center at Walmart and you will be doing yourself and the environment a favor by picking these up the next time you need batteries.
Stocking up on batteries is always a good idea, especially during the holiday season. You never know when the type you need will be out of stock.
Plus, when the power goes out, you will be happy that you stocked up on batteries.
What Causes Battery Corrosion?
Upon opening up your remote and seeing battery corrosion, you may wonder what causes battery terminal corrosion.
Battery corrosion in your remote control is due to hydrogen gas being released from the acid in the battery, mixing with other things in the atmosphere.
This can happen to almost any device that uses batteries, although according to their website, Energizer® is different.
They design their batteries to prevent damaging leaks and even offer to replace your device if they cause a damaging leak.
That seems like enough reason to pick up a pack of these batteries that are guaranteed for up to two years to not leak!
This is a smart investment if you continuously have a battery corrosion problem.
It could be the brand you are using and it would be a smart investment because cleaning battery corrosion out of your remotes, isn’t a guarantee.
Sometimes even when following this battery cleaning method, you will find yourself with a remote that you just can’t seem to get working again.
Picking up these leakproof, lithium batteries is a smart investment, even if you don’t plan on using them right away. They hold power for up to 20 years in storage.
How to Prevent Battery Corrosion
In my case, the cause of battery corrosion was due to storing the remote control with batteries inside. Over time the gas being released caused this problem.
The obvious way to prevent this particular problem would be to never store your remotes with batteries inside.
Removing the batteries before storing your remote away for a long period of time could help prevent this problem in the future although this isn’t a completely foolproof method.
I have tried to prevent this issue in the past but I still had battery corrosion build up inside of old remotes that were stored without batteries.
When this is the case, I still need to remove the battery corrosion with this battery corrosion cleaner even though the batteries have been removed.
This is most likely due to batteries leaking before removing them from the remote control.
Giving the remote a quick clean before storing it can help to remove any leftover battery corrosion that may become a bigger problem over time.
Some people have reported success with adding a bit of a battery terminal grease to prevent battery corrosion buildup.
This is usually done on car batteries or bigger items than a remote but if you are continuously having this problem and refuse to try these batteries that guarantee to not leak, you may want to grease your terminals occasionally.
I hope I was able to help you learn How to Clean Battery Corrosion & Save Your Remote. Have you tried this method before, how did it work for you?
Please share this post on your favorite social media channel so everyone can see how to clean battery corrosion and save their remote!
Don’t forget to sign up for the free newsletter and follow along on social media so that you never miss a post again.
Why Do Batteries Corrode In Remote?
Corrosion is caused by a chemical reaction of hydrogen gas building pressure and this pressure needs an escape from the battery.
The result is the battery leaked in remote or battery exploded in remote. This is why I am glad that you have found this post that shares how to clean battery acid from remote.
Can Battery Acid Ruin Remote?
Yes! This is why you need to know how to remove battery acid from remote.
Once you have found that the batteries leaked in remote or that your batteries corroded in remote you must apply what you learned here about how to clean remote battery terminals.
I hope this post sharing how to remove battery corrosion has helped you to fix your problem and show you how to clean battery corrosion.
Helpful Posts
Learn how to make your own DIY Dog Tags from items you may already have at home. Be sure to see how I make this homemade SCD yogurt recipe. Be sure to look through all of my DIY Posts here.
Still, having problems? Learn How to Clean Battery Corrosion in Toys & Fix Electronics
About Thirty Something Super Mom
My journey started after a Crohn's disease diagnosis, inspiring a commitment to well-being. This site shares my distinctive approach to healthy living with my collection of nutritious recipes that boast authentic flavors, mimicking the indulgence of traditional dishes. I love sharing guilt free recipes for low carb, keto, gluten-free, paleo, and the specific carbohydrate diet. I also share tips on natural living, including homemade cleaners and cleaning hacks. I also share my experience as a veterinary technician and pet groomer, to integrate pet health tips, homemade dog food recipes, and grooming insights to ensure your pets thrive.
This is very interesting, Melissa! Thank you for sharing these tips. I’ll have to pass them onto my husband to see if he knows the same ones. 🙂
Oh man, I never even thought about battery corrosion before, especially in the remote control (or even stuff I obviously haven’t used in ages…. a good reminder to check today). Makes total sense, and I probably would’ve chucked it out and went out to buy a new one for my TV. Man, vinegar sure can clean anything it seems, can’t it?
I didn’t even realize you could clean this stuff. I would have been able to save tons of products if I knew. #client
I didn’t even know that battery corrosion was a thing. Shows how smart I am. 😉
This is a brilliant idea! I cannot tell you the number of gadgets I have lost to battery corrosion. That is so clever, using household essentials such as vinegar. I will definitely try this out the next time this happens (which is not too far off!)
Of course, vinegar to the rescue again. I never would have thought to try that. I use to have a bad habit of forgetting to remove my batteries from devices, and corrosion definitely ended up happening. But my now husband always thinks to remove batteries, even if it is just for a short time.
Wow, what a great tip! I am fortunate to have not had any issues with corrosive batteries up to this point in my life (knock on wood!) but now I know what to do if it ever does. Thanks for sharing, I’m sure one day this will definitely come in handy.
I’ve always wondered how to take care of this problem. I hate having to deal with an “exploded” battery when I leave it in there for way too long… Thanks so much for the vinegar tip! I’ll try to prevent this from happening again in my remotes.
This is really good information and a frugal tip for sure! How many gadgets have I thrown out because of battery corrosion. Never again! Vinegar is certainly a miracle cleaner!
This is seriously BRILLIANT! My husband is Mr. McGyver himself and I wonder if he knows about this. We are totally trying this!
I honestly didn’t think this was repairable. I have an old tv remote that has a corroded battery in it. I actually bought a new remote several months back. I think I threw the old one out. How aggravating!
I typically leave these types of household chores to my husband but this is definitely information I should know. Thank you for sharing these wonderful tips with everyone! 🙂
I sure wish I had learned this years ago. Thanks for the tip!!!
You’re welcome, it is very helpful!
I HATE LOOSING TOYS AND THINGS TO BATTERY CORROSION THIS WAS A VERY HELPFUL THANK YOU
This worked really well. I got my TV remote working again in under 5 minutes. Thanks a mil!
So glad it worked for you, thanks for stopping by and letting me know!
Thanks for this – it was really useful. If it helps, we had neither white vinegar or cotton buds, so used ordinary malt vinegar and small pieces of cotton on a matchstick.
That’s awesome. So glad it worked out for you. I appreciate you taking the time to comment and letting me know!
This is a great post and I’m glad you posted it as my remote had corrosion on and I forking out $60 for a new remotes felt wrong.
Thanks to your idea of using vinegar, it worked!
I feel accomplished and pleased I saved $60 for something else better, thank you!
Wow that is awesome! I am so happy to hear that! It always amazes me how much they charge for a replacement remote, glad you could save!
This really does work! Hubby always tries this befre going out and buying anything wih batteries. Nine times out of ten it is simple corrosion!
Excellent! You just saved me two remotes for my receiver and DVD player – both which stopped working on the same day due to corroded batteries. Five minutes later they’re both fixed! Thanks for the tip.
That is so awesome! I am glad I can help!
I was floored to see how well this worked, despite multiple times failing when using alcohol or water.
I am so happy to hear that it worked for you! Thank you for stopping by and commenting!
OMG I tried this one and IT WORKED OUT PERFECTLY !!
THANK YOU SOO VERY MUCH FOR POSTING THIS !!
Thanks for stopping by and letting me know it worked for you. That is awesome!
Yes I have used regular white vinegar and it works great
I didn’t have white vinegar so I tried apple cider vinegar, and it worked also!
That is good to know, thank you so much for stopping by!
I know this is a super old post but I wanted to say thank you so much! The vinegar worked like a charm.
I am so happy to hear that, thank you for telling me. I get a lot of hate on here at times and this could not have come at a better time, thanks for stopping by!
Wow! Worked like a charm. The battery button was so corroded that it was stuck down and couldn’t connect with a battery. I couldn’t find white vinegar in my house so I used apple cider. 2 minutes unstuck and the remote was like new. Thanks!
That’s awesome. I am so glad to hear that this method has worked for you. Thanks for letting me know, I love comments and shares 🙂
Woo hoo! Just got my remote to work. Thank you so much!!!!!
(used white vinegar and a little baking soda).
Thank you so much for bringing my remote back to life! I used a q-tip and vinegar with a little baking soda. Although it loosened the corrosion, that still wasn’t enough. I tried scraping out the loosened corrosion with a toothpick and it worked!
Thank you for telling me, I am so glad that it worked for you.
So helpful, thank you! I didn’t know it was so simple!
So glad this helped you out!
Sweet it worked! I had originally just scraped out what I could, but the contacts were still a bit corroded….q-tipped them with a bit of vinegar and my remote is as good as new. Thank you!!
So glad to hear it worked for you. Thank you for letting me know, that’s awesome!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! Skeptic here…turned true believer! Thanks so very much for this much needed tip/hack!! Much appreciated!!
So glad it worked for you! Thanks for commenting and letting me know.
Thanks for tips of cleaning corroded battery terminals, I will pass on to my neighbors and friends.
Awesome! Glad it worked for you!
With dry cell batteries it is usually an alkaline corrosion issue and the vinegar being slightly acidic cleans well usually. A car batter though is the opposite and is a sulfuric acid corrosion. What works great on that is ammonia cleaner. Just don’t get it in the cells. But pour over the corrosion. And then rinse with water.
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!
crystal clear. and it does the job.
It works! Thank you! I only had red wine vinegar but it saved my remote. So grateful!
That’s awesome! Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you for the helpful hints!
You’re welcome, thanks for stopping by and letting me know it helped!