How To Clean Your Headphones

Ever since the invention of the DJ, Music stereos, Walkman, DJ headphones have become an integral part of our lives. And with the ever-rising popularity of squad goals and fitspo, many of us are adopting a more active lifestyle while grooving out to our soundtracks on Spotify. 

We are willing to shell out quite a bit of dough in exchange for some quality headphones, Bose, Audio Technica, Sennheiser, and dare we even say it, Beats. So, it can be infuriating to find that within a year or two, the audio quality seems to drop or the sound is no longer as crisp. Even the most undiscerning of ears can pick up that quality difference, especially if we have to amp up the volume button to get a better listen.

Being part of the buy & throw away generation, we might get tempted to whine about how things don't last nowadays, and then proceed to get a new pair. But what if there's a straightforward solution to this? And that, most of the time, it is because your headphones are dirty.

Why do we need to clean our headphones?

Take out your headphones or earphones right now. Examine the inside of the earpads or the wire mesh of the earbuds. You see, our habits have resulted in months of clogged earwax, grease and also dust gets trapped in the little crevices of our headphones. We always shower and change our clothes after our gym sessions, or morning runs because it is dirty. But when was the last time we cleaned our headphones, post-workout or ever?

Is it starting to feel disgusted yet? Well, that's not even the end of it.

We almost always toss them into our bags, pockets, anywhere, where they continue to mix around with other dust and grime that's been lying at the bottom since the dawn of time. Then, we fish them out whenever we need and shove them back into our ears without a moment's hesitation.

And that, my friend, is a surefire way to increase your chance of getting an ear infection, earwax blockage, and a costly trip to the doctor's office.

We wouldn't do that to any of our other belongings so why do we do this to our headphones? A little care and maintenance for our headphones can go a long way. This ensures we get the best bang for our buck, but also maintaining our in-ear hygiene.

Getting Started

So, let's talk about cleaning. It requires a bit more delicacy, a little finesse, but all the tools we need can be easily found at home.

Things you need:

1. A small cloth

2. Rubbing alcohol/ hand sanitizer

3. Q-tips/cotton buds

4. Soap

5. Water

6. Blu-tack

There are two categories of headphones that we will be talking about today:

1.  Earphones: in-ear monitors (IEMs) /Earbuds 

2.  Headphones: Over-ear / on-ear headphones

1) How to Clean Earphones

Cleaning the driver unit

The driver unit is where the sound is generated and more important part of the earphones that goes into ears.

1. Hold your earphones with the mesh side facing downwards. Using a dry, soft toothbrush (preferably a children's toothbrush), brush the wire mesh gently to dislodge any dirt or clogged ear wax. Tap the non-mesh side/logo side of the earbuds to help knock some of the debris off.

2. Using a bent paperclip and some blu-tack, go over the wire mesh and remove the remaining dirt and dust. The blu-tack will pick up all the unwanted substances and leave your mesh debris-free.

Dampen a small cloth with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer and do a quick wipe over the metal mesh as well as the wires.

2) How to Clean Headphones?

These are slightly trickier as they involve more delicate parts like the leather or foam earpads that can tear easily. So unless you want to go on Amazon to order yourself some new ear pads, proceed gently

1. Remove the ear pads and wipe the exterior of the headphones down with a small cloth dampened with some soap and warm water. Wipe dry with some paper towels and leave to air dry completely.

2.  Dampen a small cloth with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer and gently wipe down the exterior of the ear pads. Then soak a cotton bud in alcohol/ hand sanitizer and use it to clean the nooks and crevices of the ear pads.

3. Dab some alcohol/hand sanitizer over the surface of the foam mesh and gently rub both the right and left side together. It will help kill off the bacteria that are residing in the ear pads. The gentle rubbing should also help to dislodge any dirt or grime.

4. Leave the ear pads to air dry entirely on some paper towels before reattaching them.

3) Advanced Cleaning Method

However, if you are looking for that straight out of the factory cleanliness, you will need a more hardcore option.

We would recommend getting a hearing aid vacuum. Hearing aid vacuum, as the name implies, is a vacuum system for hearing aids. By utilizing small vacuum pumps, it can effectively extract earwax and dirt. 

Conclusion:

Adopt any of the above methods for cleaning your headphones, it's a necessary step for the maintenance of your headphones in DJ. Headphones also need care, whether it's much expensive or not. It's also the quality of your personality to clean your gadgets. Thank you, have a great day ahead.

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