On Sun, 30 May 2021 01:36:39 +0100, Rayner Lucas
wrote:

In article , NONONOmisc07
says...

Someone on Freecycle gave me a nice tv, pretty old, but comelete with
owners manual and remote control.

The remote works fine except for the buttons used the most, volume up
and down, channel up and down, power, and muting.

I took it apart and expected to find oxidized contact points, but no.
Instead those buttons, on the circuit board and on the buttons, are
shiny and a little bit sticky. I forced myself to taste it, but I don't
taste anything.

[snip]

So I know what to do about it, but what is that stuff? Finger oil?

I don't think I'm capable of feeling enough curiosity to taste a
substance I found inside someone else's remote control.

I'd bet on something like a spilled drink of some kind, KFC/pizza
grease, or some other such residue from someone's movie-night snacks.

If a black light is available, I'd take a look with that. Talking to hotel
housekeepers, I hear that the TV remote is the #1 'dirty' surface in a
hotel room, IYKWIM.