If you’re a headphone user, then chances are that at some point you’ve noticed how gross your headset can get. Whether it’s from using them for an extended period of time or from not cleaning them often enough, the fact is that they need to be cleaned regularly in order to keep them as clean as possible and prolong their lifespan. In this post we’ll show you how to properly clean a pair of headphones so that they look and sound like new!
Table of Contents
How often do you Clean your Headphones?
If you’re like most people, the answer is probably “not very”. That’s a bad idea though. Your headphones are going to get dirty and that can cause them to wear out more quickly. It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it! Headphone cleaning is the worst part of owning a pair. But with these simple steps, you can make your headset last longer and sound cleaner. We promise!
Clean them regularly. At least once a month, if not more depending on how often you use them.
Let’s get started shall we?
How to Clean a Headset – Step By Step
First off, what you’re going to need:
- microfiber cloths or paper towels (not too rough)
- rubbing alcohol (get good stuff that won’t leave marks)
- cotton swabs or q-tips (optional but highly recommended)
- You’ll want to start by removing the plastic casing around your ear cups. We do this so that we can fully clean the inner part of the headset, which tend to collect much more dirt than anything else. If possible remove any other pieces as well in order to give the entire headset a thorough cleaning without having to miss any spots. If you can’t remove that piece or any other pieces, don’t worry too much about it. We’ll show you how to clean those parts as well!
- Once everything is removed, take your swabs or cleaning cloths and scrub the headband area where the metal meets the plastic/leather. This is the area where most of the dirt accumulates so definitely make sure this part gets a good cleaning!
- Now take your microfiber cloths (or paper towels) and wrap them around either end of something pointy like a pen or pencil. You may need to use more than one cloth depending on how dirty your headphones are but that’s okay because now we’re going to start putting alcohol on our headset! You want to dampen the cloth in alcohol but not soak it.
- Next, start scrubbing all over your headphone in a circular motion. Make sure you’re not missing any spots because they will show when you’re done cleaning!
- Now that we’ve cleaned our headphones, its time to dry them off with some fresh microfiber or paper towels. Start by removing the excess dirt/alcohol on the headband area again with your “pen” wrapped in a cloth.
- After doing this make sure there are no dirty marks left behind! If they do leave dirt behind go back and clean them until they are completely clean!
- Finally, replace your ear cups back onto their original positions. Congrats! Your headphones should now be virtually spotless and good as new!
A Few Extra Tips to keep your Headphones Clean Longer
- Never use paper towels or tissues on any part of your headset. They’re too rough and will cause damage over time.
- If you can’t remove your plastic casing, just skip it — don’t force it off if something is stuck though because that may damage the plastic.
- If you ever use rubbing alcohol make sure it’s at least 50% but not more than 99%. Anything stronger will leave marks on your headphone which won’t come out…ever.
- Never use soap of any kind on your headphones. It will leave behind residue and cause bad things to happen!
- If you need to use a vacuum, that’s okay but don’t get too close to the ear cups or else they’ll get sucked into the vacuum. Trust us on this one, its not pretty…
Just remember: if at first you don’t succeed, try try again! Its going to take a few times before you can make it look as good as new but after cleaning them a couple times you should be able to perfect
