When out and about, trying to stay focused on the task at hand can be challenging. From bumping into someone to hearing a busker playing a quality song, it’s so easy to get distracted. However, like many people, you might choose to fire in some earbuds so that you can get on with your day unimpeded. Good choice – when you want to get things done, blocking out distraction is very useful. That being said, without some love and care, even the most grandiose and expensive of earphones can get dirty.
What, then, can you do if you want to get them nice and clean once again?
Getting started
To clean out your earbuds, you should look to clean them down once per week with a simple alcohol rub. In fact, you should do this with all peripherals – especially your keyboard and mouse. This helps to get rid of accumulations of wax, dirt, dust, dead skin, and other build-ups. As you might imagine, the longer those earbuds are in your ears, the easier it is for them to get waxed up. Even if you clean your ears on a daily basis, it will still happen – it’s just a natural by-product of our ears using the wax to protect the skin.
To clean out earbuds, the worst thing you can do is get them wet. This is a sure-fire way to ruin the electrics. Also, always make sure that your earbuds are disconnected from anything else when being cleaned. Pop off any tips, such as foam tips or covers, to get right into the actual earbud itself. You will need a solution that uses around five parts lukewarm (very lukewarm) water and one part washing up liquid. That formulation should be placed in a small bowl.
Then, allow the tips (not the buds) to sit in that solution for around half an hour. Give them a clean afterward with a fresh cotton bud that was dipped within the mixture for pinpoint cleaning. Allow the tips to dry out after rinsing them well – avoid using them until they are 100% dry.
Moving on
Now, you want to start cleaning the mesh coverings that your earbud uses. This is done with the mesh facing downward so that each clean forces the excess material down, not up. Wipe the mesh with a cotton bud that has been dipped into rubbing alcohol and use that to kill off any remaining residue. However, avoid using too much and make sure that the alcohol cannot drop inward.
You should now treat the outer surface of your earbud with a microfiber cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol. This will kill off anything on the surface and clean it. Now, you should leave the earbuds to dry for around an hour – avoid using anything to speed up the process like a heater, fan, or hairdryer. It should not take long at all before they can placed back into the case.
Carry this out, and you should be likely to keep your earphones looking nicer, in better condition, and generally more suitable for you to use on a daily basis. Best of all? They’ll sound as clear as they did on the day you bought ‘em!