You have cleaned every nook and corner of your house, appliances, pets and plants to make your home spotless and bacteria free. If your family member fell ill and the doctor says the cause of illness is lying in your home then what will you do? After working so hard on maintaining the healthy environment, you are confused that which part of your house remained left out. Let me tell you, it is your TV remote control which you have ONLY dusted. Dusting can’t wipe off the harmful bacteria lying on top of it. It should be cleaned with small dabs of disinfectant gel or you should use it with gloves on.
Why TV remote control is having harmful bacteria?
The answer is very simple because it is used by everyone like family members, guests, friends, children and even pets. You can find your remote lying everywhere from couch, floor, table to kitchen counter. Everybody is carrying it to change the channel or set the volume accordingly. All these ill practices leads to germ buildup on the remote which generally comes from the dirt caused by skin oils, dirt, crumbs, and general grime and invisible to naked eyes but it can easily be transferred from person to person with mere contact.
How bad the condition can be?
As per a scientific study, the TV remote control has three times more bacteria found on other places such as hospital room doorknob, call button or tray table. Some of these bacteria can be life threatening. SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MRSA (Methicillin-Resistent Staphylococcus Aureus) bacteria have been found in hospital rooms which have infected numerous patients and caused death. Well, the condition is not that bad with a house TV remote control but taking precaution can avoid any microbial contamination.
How to clean a remote control?
Although, cleaning a remote control is a simple task but you need to be very careful so that you don’t damage the battery slot or part of circuit. If you won’t be careful then your remote control can stop working and you have to operate your TV manually EVERYTIME like in 1980’s.
You can clean your remote in two ways i.e. a quick over the surface cleaning or an overall cleaning which includes cleaning of internal parts as well.
Quick clean method
- Take a cotton swab and dip it in alcohol.
- Rub the surface and crevices surrounding the button of remote control with the cotton swab.
- Use a toothpick to remove the dirt from the seam between the two halves of remote.
- Use an electronic cleaning wipe or lint free cloth to wipe down the remainder of remote control for final cleaning.
- Clean all the areas such as front, back, sides and battery slot with the cotton swab properly.
- Put the batteries in the slot and it is ready to use.
Deep cleaning method
- First of all, open the battery compartment and remove the batteries.
- Take a screw driver and remove all the screws that are keeping the body of remote together.
- Keep all the screws at one place such as small bowl so that these don’t get lost.
- Separate the two halves of the body and buttons from the circuit board.
- Keep the circuit board on a clean and dry surface. If no such surface is available then you can place it on a paper towel.
- You should use alcohol or commercial contact cleaner which are easily available on the electronic store.
- Either spray the cleaning agent or gently wipe off any dirt with a clean cotton swab.
- You needn’t to dry your circuit board because the alcohol based cleaning solution will evaporate soon on its own.
- Use a mixture of dish soap and water or alcoholic solution to clean the buttons.
- Scrub the keypad with a cotton swab or an old tooth brush. Let it air dry or wipe them with handkerchief, old t-shirt or microfiber cloth once the scrubbing is done.
- When everything is dried, put the circuit, buttons and body of remote together just as like before cleaning by fixing the screws back in their places.
Try to clean the remote on weekly basis and educate your family members about the need of proper handling of remote control. Keep it at a safe place and tell your children to clean their hands after using the in house TV remote or at others place. Always remember only healthy practices can save your family from germs.