A large majority of us own earphones and use them on a daily basis. It’s what helps get us through the day – our companion on the long bus ride, at the gym, while working etc. Most of us are on our phones/laptops for hours in a day and we use our earphones to listen to music or the audio of a video/show we’re watching. For some of us when we leave the house and realise that we forgot to bring our earphones, we would go home and get it. It is THAT important. Imagining an entire day without it sounds unbearable.
Just how clean are your earphones?
If you’re using it daily and can’t remember the last time you gave it a proper wipe down, it’s definitely crawling with bacteria at this point. The thing about our ears is that they’re pretty amazing, they actually clean themselves. This natural self-cleaning process can be hindered by the use of earphones – especially if the earphones are not cleaned regularly. This can easily lead to a buildup of bacteria and an increased risk of ear infection.
How to clean your earphones
There are a few ways, here’s one of them.
To get started, you’ll need to prepare the following:
1. Rubbing alcohol
2. Cotton Swabs
3. A stiff brush (or a toothbrush)
4. Earphones’ Cleaning Tool (if it came with your earphones) – optional
5. Soapy water (best to mix water with dish soap)
6. A cloth
Step 1: Remove the silicone earbud tips from your earphones and use the cotton swabs to clean the inside and outside of it. If you have an earphones’ cleaning tool, you can use the metal part of it to clear out any earwax that may be stuck to the earbud tips.
Step 2: Rinse the earbud tips in soapy water, wipe them with a cloth and leave to dry. Ensure they are completely dry before reattaching them to your earphones.
Step 3: Hold your earphones with the mesh part facing down. Use the stiff brush (or toothbrush) to gently swipe off earwax that is stuck to the earphones. By facing it downwards, any loose earwax will fall out rather than fall into the mesh.
Step 4: Dab the cotton swab in a bit of rubbing alcohol and gently clean the surface of the mesh and the earphones itself. Flip the cotton swab around and use the dry end to do the same. Use however many cotton swabs you need (it really depends on how dirty the earphones are).
That’s it! Clean your earphones regularly to protect the sound quality and of course for hygiene purposes.
