Earbuds have become a must-have accessory for many phone users. The quality audio, portability, and good noise isolation that earbuds provide make them essential for listening to music or connecting your devices for audio zoom calls, listening to podcasts or taking calls.
If you use earbuds every day but rarely clean them, they may start to sound muffled or have uneven volume – apart from being jam-packed with earwax and other nastiness.
Just like any modern device, it is important to keep earbuds clean because they accumulate dust, dirt and bacteria that can grow on unclean earbuds. Research carried out by R. Mazlan and L. Saim suggests that earbuds are a leading cause of infection in the ear canal.
Our ears produce cerumen (earwax) which has the purpose of protecting our inner ears against particles and germs. Over time, oil and wax from our ears accumulate on eartips and the nozzle of the earbuds.
This reduces the sound quality and in rare cases spreads bacteria which can cause infections when the earbuds are shared. So how do you effectively clean your earbuds? In this post, I will show you some popular and inventive ways to clean any type of earbuds or headphones.
Contents
How to Clean Earbuds
Method 1: Using Hydrogen Peroxide or rubbing alcohol
(Works but don’t use too much liquid that will get inside the buds, better to use moist towelette, Q-tip or lint-free makeup pad (cotton pad).
Earbud parts can be cleaned separately and it is advisable to start with the nozzle, ear tips, and sleeves. These parts are always in contact with the wax, thus they attract dirt faster and accumulate wax with time. You will need a small piece of cloth, hydrogen peroxide or antiseptic, alcohol, and a toothbrush. Bose suggests using these solutions with a maximum concentration of 3%.
First, remove the sleeves (earbud tips) then use the toothbrush to brush off the wax from the ear tips and nozzle. Do this facing the nozzle downwards so that wax does not fall back into the earbud housings, causing further damage to the diaphragm of drivers.
After that wet a cloth with hydrogen peroxide and wipe off all the remaining wax with the cloth, then dry clean it again with antiseptic. The sleeves can be washed with mild soap or using antiseptic and then dried with a blow dryer.
Next, you should clean the cable, jack, and inline controls. When cleaning the inline controls, be careful to keep water away because it will damage the wiring.
The best way to clean the inline control is by wiping it gently using a wet piece of cloth and antiseptic. The cables can also be wiped clean with the cloth.
The jack accumulates more dust so you should use a toothbrush to wipe off the dust particles then clean it using the cloth. Finally, you can use soap or antiseptic to clean the housing and leave the earbuds to completely dry off in a clean place. After that re-attach the sleeves.
When you are done cleaning all the parts of your earbuds, you can use alcohol wipes to disinfect them further. Alcohol will help to kill germs and leave a clean surface since it dries super fast and doesn’t attract particles. You should remember to never immerse your earbuds in water and always detach them from your iPod or device when cleaning.
Method 2: Use glue pads (Blue-Tack) RECOMMENDED
Earwax, dirt, and lint will stick to the outside layer, simply apply a small amount of pressure to make the white tacky substance adhere to the surface of the buds (mesh, crevices, etc) and when you peel it back you’ll see it has picked it all up. Use another side or just knead it together to “freshen” it up and use again. It can be used multiple times before being noticeable dirty. A grease-free, safe & easy way to clean your earphones.
Method: Play music loud, submerse your earbuds in a glass of stain remover NOT RECOMMENDED
Some people recommend this, even the video above shows it as n option, but submerging any earbuds in water or other liquid (except for totally waterproof earbuds, you’ll most likely end up with a ruined pair of earbuds.
It is very important to clean earbuds periodically as the accumulation of dust and wax on the nozzles will eventually reduce the sound quality or you may hear the volume level lower than usual. The jack should be cleaned to make sure it does not introduce foreign particles to our multimedia devices. These particles may also cause the inline controls to malfunction.
Cleaning will also help us to avoid rare infections and keep us healthy. Just like we clean our ears, we should also clean the earbuds to maintain healthy personal hygiene.