Headphones are a popular companion to many of our daily activities. They offer entertainment while exercising and we often carry with us at all times. And it can quickly lose its clean and new feel, even after being used and while being stored. Just because they are not looking their best doesn’t mean you need to get a new set of headphones.
You can easily clean your headphones by using standard household products that you will have in your kitchen cupboard. So here in this article, we will discuss how to clean headphones and tips for keeping them looking and sounding like new. Let’s check out.
Why Do We Need To Clean Our Headphones?
Take out your headphones right now, and examine the inside of the earpads or the wire mesh of the earbuds. You may find months of clogged earwax, grease, and also dust being trapped in the little crevices of our headphones.
So it’s important to clean them regularly for both hygiene and maintenance reasons, especially if you use your headphones while you exercise. Also, the sweat can build up and make the ear cups smell bad.
You can’t see all specks of dirt like bacteria and other microbes that might make you sick. Some of the studies have found that headphones increase bacterial growth inside the ear, and it can be passed from one person to another if the headphones are shared. So make sure to clean the earbuds, this will help to reduce the risk.
What do you need to clean headphones?
Cleaning your headphones is super dangerous, so make sure that you have the right tools to properly clean them and kill whatever bacteria or viruses or living on them, and keep yourself safe.
Here we’ve listed some basic items, but you don’t need to use everything on this list, it’s still good to have and a solid baseline for doing this in a safe way. Let’s find out.
- Towel or paper towels
- Toothbrush
- Tweezers
- Q-Tips
- Rubbing alcohol (greater than 63%), Diluted bleach, or Hydrogen Peroxide
- Hand soap
- Gloves
How to clean over-the-ear headphones?
- Remove the ear pads and remove any dirt gently from the headphone pads with a damp cloth before cleaning with the alcohol or hand sanitizer.
- Now take a damp cloth or paper towels to remove any dirt from the main headset, including any gaps or meshed areas.
- Take a clean cloth and rub alcohol sparing to the headset and gently wipe over each surface.
- You can use a dry toothbrush to remove any dirt from the mesh covering the speakers.
- To clean each mesh speaker, use a cotton bud dipped in rubbing alcohol
- Make sure to let each part dry completely before putting your headphones back together.
How to clean earbuds?
It’s important to clean earbud headphones, because as they will sit inside the ear. And this may provide a greater risk for any bacteria on the ear tips being transferred inside the ear canal, which can potentially cause an ear infection.
- Remove those silicone ear cups, avoid tearing them.
- Once it is removed, soak them in soap and warm water for 5 minutes.
- Take a damp cloth or paper towel and wipe down every part of the earbuds to remove any dirt.
- clean over the mesh speakers to remove any dirt by using the dry bristled brush.
- You can apply the Blu-tack to the mesh to remove any leftover pieces of dirt.
- Make sure to dry completely before putting the earbuds back together.
Read this guide to learn more about cleaning your earbuds at home.
Tips for All Models
- Don’t apply the liquid directly to the headphones.
- When you wipe down the liquid, be sure to keep any moisture on the surface.
- Don’t use anything stronger than soap and water. You can use a little amount of alcohol, but on certain things, you shouldn’t because the material itself will dissolve.
- The use of alcohol may destroy any part made of foam, but it’s fine for plastic, rubber, or silicone.
Also Read : Most Durable Headphones to buy in 2021
How often should you clean headphones?
This will depend on how often you use them. But you can wipe them down with a cloth and alcohol solution after every use, especially if you have been exercising. By doing this it will help to remove any dirt and ear wax before it gets lodged in hard-to-reach areas and prevent any bacteria and grime build-up.
If you use your headphones on a daily basis hen you should clean them once a week. This will help stop any dirt and grime from building up and protect against bacteria and preserve the audio quality of your headphones.
These simple yet very effective tips will keep your headphones clean and perform at their best. And the regular cleaning of your headphones keeps the risk of developing an ear infection to a minimum, also it will keep your headphones looking and working as good as new.