How to Get Rid of Battery Corrosion (2024)

Plan to spend about 10 minutes removing battery corrosion from your electronics.

Not only is battery discharge messy—it’s also caustic. You don’t want to get it on your skin or in your eyes because it can cause permanent damage. During the cleaning process, glasses or goggles will protect your eyes from flying flecks of dried battery discharge, and protective gloves made of cloth or synthetic rubber will keep it from getting on your hands. As an added precaution, you might also want to wear long-sleeved clothing.

Most household batteries contain base chemicals, whether they’re single-use (alkaline) or rechargeable (nickel-based) batteries, so acids will neutralize them. After making sure the device is powered off, use a cotton swab to apply a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar to the affected area. The whitish, crusty discharge should start to fizz and disintegrate.

Note: Most cars run on lead-acid batteries, so you’ll need a different set of supplies to clean up car battery corrosion. And since these batteries are much bigger and more complicated to work with, you may want to consult a mechanic before tackling this job yourself.

Isopropyl alcohol provides a one-two punch for cleaning electronics. It removes residue from other cleaning agents (in this case, lemon juice or white vinegar) that can gum up your electronics, without leaving behind any additional moisture.

It’s safe and effective, and it dries quickly. You’ll want to use the purest form of isopropyl alcohol you can find, so check the label on your rubbing alcohol or antiseptic wipes. The wipes that come with first-aid kits often contain just 70% isopropyl alcohol, which will work for external plastic or metal, but for internal stuff, 90% to 99% is preferable.

Once you’ve cleaned the entire affected area, wipe it down with a microfiber cloth. You can also polish smaller sections with a pencil eraser. Finish up with a canister of compressed gas, designed specifically for cleaning electronics, to get rid of any pesky fibers left behind by the cotton swabs.

Let the device—especially internal components, like the battery compartment—dry completely before replacing the batteries and turning on the device.

When household batteries are tossed in the trash and end up in a landfill, the chemicals inside them leach into the soil and water systems, which is harmful to the environment. Fortunately, most single-use and rechargeable batteries—including AA, AAA, C, D, and 9 V—can be recycled.

To recycle corroded batteries, collect them in a plastic bag or other container to keep them from contaminating clean batteries. Look up drop-off locations near you, or find a mail-in program on sites like Earth911 and Call2Recycle.