What is this “green goo” coming out of my sockets and switches?
This is a common question we receive from home owners of houses built between the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. Unfortunately, if you are encountering this it is a bad sign. The green substance that is coming from your outlets is a chemical reaction happening in your home’s electrical installation cabling. It is the breakdown of the cable’s plasticiser and the oxidising of the copper. It’s also known as cable greening.
The substance looks a little like fairy liquid and is sticky. This can go unnoticed in some cases until you have other work carried out, but for many you can see it oozing out of sockets and switches. This has happened over years of constant use of the installation and can be accelerated by loose connections and overloading of circuits. The cable is breaking down, can become brittle and the green substance can affect to function of accessories. If found in fuseboards this can affect the function of breakers and in some cases, cause electrical fires. Avoid touching the goo as it can cause irritation. If you discover this in your home you should contact an electrician to investigate but ultimately this mean that you probably need your home rewiring.
Here we have an example of "green goo" leaking out a socket!
