REMOVING A BROKEN
LIGHT BULB
IN A FIXTURE
REMOVING A BROKEN
LIGHT BULB
IN A FIXTURE
Proper Protection:
When dealing with electricity and broken glass, it's always best to play it smart and use proper safety equipment. Wear mechanics gloves or thick gardening gloves to protect your hands. These gloves will also give you a good grip on the bulb. Do not use latex gloves as the glass from the light bulb can easily cut through them. If you have to look up into a fixture, be sure to protect your eyes as well! Put on some safety goggle or, if, you don't have any safety goggles, a nice pair of sunglasses will work.
When handling a broken bulb that still has glass around it, try to grab the bulb as close to the base as you possibly can. Even though you might be wearing gloves, it's still a good idea to avoid any shards of glass that could possibly cut through them. Don't worry if the inside of the bulb starts to get bent a little bit. But remember to not use too much force as you might break the socket. Once the broken bulb is removed, simply throw it out. If you're dealing with a CFL light bulb then use a sealable container such as a zip-lock bag, and recycle the bulb.
If you don't have safety equipment like gloves or goggles, don't worry. The old-fashioned method of using a potato will do just fine. Chop a potato in half and carefully use one half to grab the broken glass. The light bulb's glass will dig into the soft cut side of the potato, allowing you to twist the bulb out of its socket with ease. Despite what you may read elsewhere, it's perfectly okay to use a potato.
Removing a Broken Light Bulb with No Glass in a Fixture
You may be lucky enough to come across a light bulb that has all of the glass missing, and all that's left is the metal base. Thankfully, there's a simple trick to removing the base. Grab a pair of needle-nose pliers, open them inside the base, and slowly turn to the left.
Last but not least, to ensure a proper clean-up after you've swept up the glass, use the sticky side of tape to catch the fine pieces of glass that your broom missed. Typically duct tape will do the trick as you can use it multiple times without the stickiness fading too quickly. DO NOT USE A VACUUM CLEANER! If you use a vacuum cleaner, two things are likely to happen, you destroy part of the vacuum cleaners bag and pieces of the glass are shot out from underneath.
Broken Bulb is Still Stuck:
If for whatever reason, you are unable to remove the broken light bulb from the socket, then you're going to have to replace the light socket. This doesn't happen very often so don't worry.
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