Earbuds are one of those funny things in life where most people tend to avoid using another person’s earbuds at all costs because quite simply…ewww, those earbuds have been in another person’s ear! Ewww earwax etc.
YET – here’s the funny thing – we don’t actually clean our own. Hands up if you clean your earbuds? If the answer is NO then you’re the same as all the rest of us. Most people rarely if ever clean their earbuds – and us train commuting types tend to use them every single day of the year!
But in all seriousness, earbuds when closely examined can be quite feral. Not because you have bad personal hygiene or anything like that (although that can contribute!), because your ear is an intricate little place and secretes things like ear wax, sebum, various skin cells and so on to protect that tiny, but very important ear canal. Add various skin and facial products to the mix and you’ve got quite the cocktail.
Now you’re placing your earbuds into this sticky mess and over time it’s collecting ridiculous amounts of bacteria. If various studies are to be believed, the earbuds alone can play host to literally thousands upon thousands of tiny bacteria hosts – bacteria which can lead to ear infections and all kinds of other nasties.
In short – clean your earbuds, doubly so if you intend to lend them to someone!
Now we’ve covered WHY you should be cleaning your earbuds, let’s move onto the how.
HOW TO CLEAN YOUR EARBUDS
It’s quite simple really, and you only need a few items to do it. If you want to get serious about wax removal (and if you read all of the above I wouldn’t blame you J) – you can buy a hearing aid cleaning brush for under 10 dollars. While designed to clean hearing aids, they’re also perfect for cleaning earbuds as well as headphones, air pods etc. These brushes are great because they can remove the wax with a custom made hook while on the other end a brush safely cleans the earbud heads.
You’ll need the following items to properly clean your earbuds:
- Dish soap
- Cotton swabs / qtips
- A soft cleaning cloth
- And ideally some alcohol wipes (easily found in any supermarket)
The cleaning process
- Start by gently wiping down the earbuds with a dry cloth to remove any obvious dirt/wax/grime
- Be careful not go get any liquid/moisture in the mesh fronts of the earbuds – keep them face down.
- Wipe the mesh fronts with a dry cloth.
- Remove any silicon coverings on the earbuds and wipe inside them with a damp cotton swab which has been dipped in soapy water.
- Wipe down the outside of the earbuds with a damp cloth using the same soapy water but be mindful not to get them too wet and to dry them straight after.
- If your earbuds have silicon or similar coverings, remove those and wipe the outside with a damp cloth, the inside rims with a damp cotton swab. Get rid of any obvious gunk.
- You can use the damp cloth to wipe down the cables but try and avoid getting them wet.
And you’re done! The above takes only minutes and I recommend doing it every 1-2 weeks if possible. It will not only keep your earbuds clean, but can really the sound quality – all that waxy gunk also blocks the sound outputs.
I also recommend cleaning your earbuds – or at least wiping them down after each and every gym workout. All that extra heat and sweat combined with the wax is only increasing the problem.
And finally, I recommend wiping the earbuds and cabling with an alcohol wipe on a regular basis. This will kill any bacteria which remains on the earphones and will go a long way towards preventing nasty ear infections. Alcohol wipes dry super fast so I wouldn’t worry too much about the moisture it leaves on the earbuds afterwards.
How to protect your earbuds
Earbuds can be fragile pieces of technology and given how often us commuting types use them, they tend to also take quite a beating.
There’s a few simple things you can do or be mindful of, which can drastically improve how long your earbuds last.
Protect the cable at all costs
On average I go through a pair of earbuds about once every year and a half – sometimes longer. The reason they stop working is almost always an issue that’s been caused by the cables deteriorating. The most common place this occurs is where the cable connects to the cell phone socket, or where each earbud is connected.
When my cables have deteriorated, I notice problems such as:
- Sound only works in one ear
- Sound drops in and out until I wiggle the cable (indicating one of the wires has deteriorated)
- Earbuds completely stop working.
Interestingly, and I am no electrician – they tend to stop working in one ear most commonly. It’s actually quite rare (in my experience) for them to stop working completely – but listening to music in just one ear can be maddening and thus new earbuds are required.
There’s a few rules you need to follow in order to protect your earbud cables:
- Try and avoid removing unplugging the earbuds from the cell phone by yanking the cable. Take hold of the socket where it connects to the phone and gently remove it.
- Try and avoid removing the earbuds from your ears by yanking the cable – gently take hold of each earbud with your fingers and remove it.
These 2 points alone can make a considerable difference to the overall lifespan of your earbuds.
- Before wrapping your earbud cable around your cellphone, unplug it from the cell phone. When the cable is still connected to the phone, it bends the all important connection to the socket and can damage it. Removing it from the phone first avoids stretching the cable.
(Optional) Rather than wrapping the cable around the phone, store them in an inexpensive case designed specifically to protect earbud cables.
If you look after your earbud cable, you’ll get a lot more lifetime out of the earbuds.
Other ways to protect your earbuds:
- Don’t leave your earbuds in very cold or very hot environments – temperature can have adverse effects.
- Store your earbuds in their case when not actively using them. Many higher end or quality earbuds readily come with cases.
- If you’re using powered earbuds, don’t leave the charging compartment open when not in use as it’ll collect dust and lead to potential issues.
Now if you haven’t actually got a decent pair of earbuds, check our reccomendations for best corded earphones with mic – a perfect selection for train commuters.
Happy commuting!
