A Quick Guide on How to Clean Your Earbuds in 3 Easy Steps

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You most likely use your earbuds every day, whether you’re taking your commute to and from your office, or even while you’re at work. 

However, the problem comes when your earwax eventually builds up. When you’re wearing earbuds over long periods of time, the heat melts the wax and re-settles it on the earbud’s mesh. And while it’s not directly dangerous to your health, it does look gross.

But the good news is there’s something you can do about it. Here’s everything you will need to clean out your earbuds:

  • Toothbrush
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Alcohol wipes

Once you have what you need, here’s how you can clear your earbuds:

1. Start by gently dry-brushing the wax out of each earbud, and hold them with the mesh facing down. This allows for the debris to fall out naturally and prevents them from being pushed back up any further.

Be sure to dry-brush your earbuds using a nylon toothbrush, since their bristles are the least likely to break off inside the mesh. Nylon is also anti-static, which keeps your earbuds from being fried by static electricity while cleaning.

2. The next step is to use rubbing alcohol to get rid of any gunk still settled on the mesh of your earbuds. Unlike water, rubbing alcohol dries quickly and kills germs and bacteria on them, which effectively sterilizes your earbuds.

The reason why you should use rubbing alcohol for cleaning your earbuds is because other types of cleaning agents are more likely to seep into the small crevices and eventually damage them.

Water and dish soap also take a long time to dry, which means that they might still be wet when you plug in your earbuds into your audio jack, and damage them by accident.

3. Lastly, use alcohol wipes to wipe away the last bits of gunk in your earbuds as well as the surrounding area. Be sure to include the cord when wiping down your earbuds and allow them to dry for a few minutes.

And voila! Your earbuds are now squeaky clean and ready for use, and you’ll find that wearing them again feels like the first time you bought them.

The best thing about this is that you can either choose to clean your earbuds once a month or wipe them down with alcohol wipes whenever you feel like it, as long as you’re consistent when it comes to cleaning them.

Minimizing the use of your earbuds also helps in keeping them clean, but if you still use them regularly, try lowering the volume of your audio as a way to protect your ears and extend your earbuds’ lifespan.

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