Knowing how to do little projects around the house when they come up is a great skill to have. This way you know that when you have a clogged toilet or a light bulb that has gone out, you don’t have to call a professional and pay the extra money – because, you can do it on your own. Unless the maintenance job is something a bit more complicated.

One of these situations is when you need to change a light bulb, but the glass of the bulb is broken, leaving nothing for you to hold onto and twist.

This situation can happen for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes, it is in a lamp that has fallen over and the light bulb broke. Or, maybe your overhead light fixture was broken by a rogue ball that shouldn’t have been thrown in the house.

In any case, it is no longer a simple task of changing a light bulb. Now, you have to worry about the broken glass and the potential for being electrocuted.

Here are some steps that you can follow to safely change a light bulb that has broken:

• The first step is to ignore any advice that you have heard about using a potato to remove a broken light bulb. This is definitely not something that we recommend.
• Then, go to the breaker box for your home (the metal cabinet that has all of the switches) and turn the switch off for that particular socket. You can purchase a voltage detector from your favorite home improvement store, which will test and confirm that the socket does not have any power to it.
• Next, make sure to put on a pair of heavy-duty leather work gloves. This is to protect your fingers from the broken glass or sharp metal edges.
• Grab ahold of any part of the light bulb that you can, and begin twisting until it starts to loosen. The metal might start to rig apart, and that’s fine because it will rip into a long ribbon until it is out.
• If using your fingers does not work, grab a pair of needle-nosed pliers. Pinch the metal or bit of glass and try to twist the light bulb out.

Sometimes the maintenance projects around your home get a little bit complicated. Sometimes, they are not as simple as you planned for them to be and, the situation suddenly gets a little more dangerous than expected. Follow these tips for help!