How to Keep Earphones Clean and Wash Earbuds
| Reuben Howe
Water and tech don't tend to be the best combination (even with a high IP rating!) so it can often feel bizarre washing and cleaning electronics.
One gadget you definitely want to keep hygienic, however, are earbuds and earphones. Use these tips to protect your ears and keep your gear clean without danger!
Why Do You Need To Clean Earbuds?
The old roughly-translated Latin adage "Prevention is better than cure" applies to more situations than you might think, and earbuds are no exception.
Keeping earbuds clean in the first place matters so much because human ears are sensitive. Our eardrums are prone to long-lasting damage from something as simple as a change in air pressure or exposure to loud volumes for too long, so you can imagine the damage a build-up of dirt and particles can cause!
If a particulate like dust or a fleck of dirt manages to enter your ear on an earbud, the consequences could be long-term ear damage or infection.
Prevention is Better Than Cure
It's vital that earbuds and earphones are stored properly. A made-to-fit storage case ensures no large particulates can attach to the earbuds between use, and also protects the whole unit from dust.
The best earphones will come with a carry case, not much larger than the buds themselves, which can snap shut and keep them protected from these particulates.
You can see below examples of earphones which have dedicated charging or carry cases specifically designed for them.
This type of case is the best way to prevent unhygienic earphones, as the earphones are either safely in the case or safely in your ear! The small size of the cases means you can always have them with you, no matter what you're using the earbuds for.
Pro Tip: Removable Tips!
If you're storing your earbuds correctly, you still need to ensure you clean and wash them regularly. The inside of your ear isn't exactly a paradise of cleanliness!
As you're removing and inserting the buds they can naturally pick up bits that you don't want building up on there.
Once again, the best earbuds are designed with removable ear tips.
These are silicone cones which can unfold and pop off the plastic base of the actual earbud.
This allows you to wipe down the silicone properly, and even rinse it under water to really flush it all out. Fold the ear tip inside out and back to normal once so that the entire bud is clean and doesn't hide any surprises.
Ironically, water droplets on your ear tips also isn't good...so shake-dry the ear tips and again, unfold and re-fold them to get the water out of the crevices.
Just make sure you don't dry them off with a cloth that'll deposit fibres all over them! The last thing you need is a tiny strand of tea towel getting stuck inside your inner ear.
Allow the silicone to dry and shake them off, ensuring you fold / unfold them a few times to guarantee all the moisture and dirt is gone.
How Often To Clean Earbuds?
If you're following our advice and using a proper storage case, you should be cleaning your earbuds fully (removing the tips and washing them) once a week.
HOWEVER
You could also have a microfibre cloth for quickly wiping the earphones down when you remove them. This will keep them clean without having to go through the whole process of removing the tips.
Microfibre cloths are designed to leave no fibres behind, which is why they are used for glasses, goggles and other glass objects.
Cleaning Standard Earphones
If your earphones are an older style and don't have foldable or removable ear tips, then stick to using a microfibre and do not rinse them!
Regular wiping-down as well as proper storage will ensure your buds are up-to-scratch, but if they are ever left out or dropped be doubly careful. The advantage of removable or foldable ear tips is that, in those situations where the buds have been left out, you can easily recover them back to cleanliness.
Without that, regular upkeep is the best way.
Pick Up Noise Cancelling Removable Loops
If you're less into Bluetooth audio and more in the market for stopping snoring noises disturbing you, then silicone loops with noise reduction discs might be the ideal balance.
These don't rely on removable ear tips, but rather removable noise reduction discs! It's kind of like the inverse of the earphones, but the result is the same. Because you can remove this component, you can wash and dry your earplugs easily, with water when needed.
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