how to clean headphones

 

Sometimes we forget how much we use headphones, or what it would be like without them. They might seem insignificant; after all, they're just a small pair of speakers in your ears, but they serve a much bigger purpose. With so many people listening to music these days and with cell phones constantly buzzing with activity and activity-seeking individuals, having good sounding headphones at your disposal is vital.

But no matter how careful you are when handling them, sometimes the sound quality can still come through cloudy or muffled. And that’s where this article comes into play. With these steps, you can quickly bring your headphones back to life.

1. Maintenance

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Before cleaning any electronic device, it’s important to note that you should always unplug the device before cleaning it. This protects the device from accidental damage while also ensuring that it doesn’t overheat. When working with a headphone, you should avoid touching the metal parts of the headphones themselves; this includes both ear pads and ear cups as well as headshells and connectors. There are many small parts in the headphone, which can be easily damaged by any liquids. Even just a drop of moisture can cause permanent damage to parts of the headphone that you might not even be able to see.

2. Cleaning Headphones

The top piece of every pair of headphones serve as a headband and as a protective cover for your speakers. The headband is usually covered with a soft fabric or synthetic leather, while the speakers are protected by plastic grills or a screen or mesh material that protects the drivers from dust and debris. The headband is also where you will connect the headphones to your devices, so it can very easily become dirty.

Headphones are susceptible to damage as well, however there’s a certain way to handle this situation. When cleaning your headphones, you should always start from the top and work your way down. This applies for any device in general; starting with the top cover and working your way down from there to get rid of dirt or debris is the best method. If you want to clean the inside of your headphones, you should do that as well; just be careful not to touch something inside when cleaning them. This will cause damage that might not be easily fixable by just wiping off scratches or gunk buildup. Cleaning the speakers is similar to cleaning the phone’s earpiece; start from the center and work your way towards the inner edge of the speaker. Remember, you shouldn’t touch any wires or circuit boards when cleaning your headphones, either.

3. Cleaning Headphone Speakers

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While you should always unplug your headphones before working with them, this never applies to speaker covers. Speaker covers should also be unplugged before cleaning them, just to prevent damage from overheating instead of from misplacing a device. If you have an older pair of headphones that don’t have a screen or mesh around their speaker covers, there are ways to clean them without using anything harmful. If the speaker covers are simply covered with dust, you can use your phone’s vacuum cleaner to clean them up. If they’re covered with grime or gunk from sweat or other factors like your earwax, you can actually use hand sanitizer to get rid of it. Simply spray a small amount of hand sanitizer over the speaker cover and wipe it off with a soft cloth.

If your headphones are made after 1990, then there’s a good chance that they have covers for the speakers as well as for the ear pads.