Sweat buildup in ports... yes its gross.

[Orange Furball]

Hello! This is a rant, survey, question all in one! Enjoy!

Okay, so I have sweaty hands. Go ahead laugh at me, doesn't matter. I'm sure other have this little problem too. Anyway, when I used to play Xbox a lot, I would get a buildup of what I presume to be sweat in the seam on the controller. I figured it wasn't a big deal, and it wasn't. On the Xbox that is. However, now I have notices that my phone, the Galaxy Note, has this same buildup in the bottom microphone port. I can't get it out. It annoys me a ton.

Now that the rant is over, I will begin the "survey".

Does anyone else experience this with anything? For me its Xbox, my phone, and my bass gets a buildup of sweat on it. For some reason mice and keyboards stay clean.

Now... the question. Does anyone know how I can get this out and clean? I assume it makes me sound muffled on the phone. I tried a pin and that didn't work, toothpicks didn't work, I guess I can try a needle if I can find one.

Thanks!

 

[zachnelson]

Its not sweat, rather dirt/skin. Yes particularly nasty. I used paperclips/tooth picks to get it out of my xbox controllers.

 

[Technarchy]

Little hand sanitizer and qtips is what I use.

 

[charlieegan3]

I hate it how it builds up on my xbox controller. don't worry you're not the only one.

 

[Orange Furball]

Little hand sanitizer and qtips is what I use.

Too big to fit in the hole

 

[Technarchy]

Too big to fit in the hole

That's what she...nevermind.

Try a little hand sanitizer just the same. It evaporates fast and the alcohol breaks down sweat, oil build up and grime.

 

[Wrathwitch]

I get mouse crud build up. Same thing, different device.

The only way you can prevent the skin oils etc from doing this is keeping whatever part that is about to be on the device for a while clean. I tend to try to wash my hands before I handle my phone screen if possible.

As for my mouse, I try to keep hands clean and use a disinfectant wipe (on the mouse). I find hand sanitizers leave a ucky build up feeling on my skin.

Trying to clean the microphone port I don't know how to clean it. I might recommend that you avoid holding or touching the device there to prevent further issues.

If you really want to get creative you can always use some sort of a gauze patch taped over the port.

How big are these mic ports neways, is it that tiny hole near the usb plug in at the center bottom of the device?

perhaps bore it out a bit with precision screw driver?

 

[Orange Furball]

I get mouse crud build up. Same thing, different device.

The only way you can prevent the skin oils etc from doing this is keeping whatever part that is about to be on the device for a while clean. I tend to try to wash my hands before I handle my phone screen if possible.

As for my mouse, I try to keep hands clean and use a disinfectant wipe (on the mouse). I find hand sanitizers leave a ucky build up feeling on my skin.

Trying to clean the microphone port I don't know how to clean it. I might recommend that you avoid holding or touching the device there to prevent further issues.

If you really want to get creative you can always use some sort of a gauze patch taped over the port.

How big are these mic ports neways, is it that tiny hole near the usb plug in at the center bottom of the device?

perhaps bore it out a bit with precision screw driver?

Boring it out isn't a bad idea.. I'll have to try that!

 

[Technarchy]

Boring it out isn't a bad idea.. I'll have to try that!

I will do some scraping to detail clean from time to time, but I use plastic dental picks. Nothing metal or sharp for sure. I learned that lesson many years ago.

 

[Mac.World]

Hello! This is a rant, survey, question all in one! Enjoy!

Okay, so I have sweaty hands. Go ahead laugh at me, doesn't matter. I'm sure other have this little problem too. Anyway, when I used to play Xbox a lot, I would get a buildup of what I presume to be sweat in the seam on the controller. I figured it wasn't a big deal, and it wasn't. On the Xbox that is. However, now I have notices that my phone, the Galaxy Note, has this same buildup in the bottom microphone port. I can't get it out. It annoys me a ton.

Now that the rant is over, I will begin the "survey".

Does anyone else experience this with anything? For me its Xbox, my phone, and my bass gets a buildup of sweat on it. For some reason mice and keyboards stay clean.

Now... the question. Does anyone know how I can get this out and clean? I assume it makes me sound muffled on the phone. I tried a pin and that didn't work, toothpicks didn't work, I guess I can try a needle if I can find one.

Thanks!

As Technarchy said above, soft plastic dental pick (usually the dental floss fork stuff has a pick on the opposite side and rubbing alcohol with a qtip. Do not use any other type of liquid, except rubbing alcohol. The qtip won't go in the hole, you just want to ensure the qtip is wet with rubbing alcohol and then scrub the area lightly in side to side motion. The qtip will pull the gunck out. After abfew seconds it will dry. Now use the dental pick to scoop anything remaining out. Repeat til clean.

 

[Orange Furball]

As Technarchy said above, soft plastic dental pick (usually the dental floss fork stuff has a pick on the opposite side and rubbing alcohol with a qtip. Do not use any other type of liquid, except rubbing alcohol. The qtip won't go in the hole, you just want to ensure the qtip is wet with rubbing alcohol and then scrub the area lightly in side to side motion. The qtip will pull the gunck out. After abfew seconds it will dry. Now use the dental pick to scoop anything remaining out. Repeat til clean.

Do you think the rubbing alcohol would take off the pain? The bezel is white plastic painted silver

 

[Mac.World]

Do you think the rubbing alcohol would take off the pain? The bezel is white plastic painted silver

No. It won't. But again, it's not like you are hard scrubbing the whole phone.

Have you ever cleaned a ram chip connection point, or a motherboard, or any thing like that? A nice light touch is all it takes. You are just trying to break down the crud and clear the opening. Nothing more.

 

[Orange Furball]

No. It won't. But again, it's not like you are hard scrubbing the whole phone.

Have you ever cleaned a ram chip connection point, or a motherboard, or any thing like that? A nice light touch is all it takes. You are just trying to break down the crud and clear the opening. Nothing more.

I'll do what I do on CPUs then! Thanks!