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There should not be much corrosion on battery terminals because many batteries are now maintenance free and sealed. This means no need to top the cells with distilled water. Also, hardly are breather holes found in them where acid could escape or spew out. Inexplicably though, you still find corrosion on the battery clamps and cables. Once corrosion starts and remains unchecked, it becomes difficult to reverse the damage it has done.

That means there are still small amounts of acids getting to them, possibly through evaporation then condensation on those parts. Most of the time, it is oxidation of the metal and terminals that causes corrosion. Those are the greenish or whitish crusts that you find clinging to those metals.

If oxidation is evident, the first step I do is slowly pour hot, if possible, boiling water on the terminals and where other oxidation could be seen. You will see the crusts like melting away from those parts exposing the metal. If needed, after using hot water, wash off the entire battery with lukewarm water very well. This is to get rid of the dissolved crust that could have formed a mild acid with the water. Using soapy water will also do the same job but you will need to rinse it again with plain water. After that, if you see there is also oxidation in the insides of the terminal in between the clamps, you will need to remove the clamps from the terminals. Note that the negative terminal is grounded to the entire car body and engine. As a safety measure, undo the negative terminal first then the positive terminal. The battery terminals are made of lead and is less affected by corrosion. Again slowly pour hot water on them. If there are small traces of crust lightly sand them or scrape it off. For the battery clamps, you don't need to take the cables off. All you need to do is immerse both clamps in hot water for at least 15 minutes. The hot water will get into wherever wire brushes could not reach to get rid of the oxidation. After doing all the cleaning and washing, wipe and pat dry all of those parts. To prevent future oxidation and corrosion, very lightly coat the terminals and the clamps with petroleum jelly.

Family and friends were awed with the results of clean battery terminals when I taught them about using petroleum jelly on car battery terminals. As another precaution when reinstalling back the battery clamps, do the positive terminal first with the negative one next. If your battery is held down by a metal frame or bracket with bolts and nuts, clean them like you did the battery. Also coat them very lightly with petroleum jelly. By the way, for those who might not know, petroleum jelly is commonly used by women. They have many uses for it for their skin and also used for lip "wind-burn". If you watch boxing matches, it used by boxers seconds to apply on the boxers face.

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