How often should you clean your earplugs?

Video calling with your colleagues and listening to your favorite music or podcasts during your daily walk: we use our earplugs more than ever these days. And since we don’t have to clean our ears, the earwax comes out (in small amounts) and therefore also ends up on your earplugs. Do you not regularly clean your earplugs? Then not only earwax remains on it, but also other contaminants such as make-up, sweat, dust and bacteria. Not fresh, and in the long run the sound quality also deteriorates.

At least once a month

So it’s time to give your ‘ears’ a cleaning! How often you should do this depends on how often and what you use them for. Special sports earplugs, for example, are better cleaned more often because of the sweat. It also depends on which earplugs you have. Do they go over your ears, like a headset, or really into your ears? And are they wired, or are they wireless? Perhaps they consist of several separate parts. Keep all this in mind. For convenience, you can at least keep it once a month. If you think it is necessary more often in your case, you can also do it once every two weeks. Whatever you like best!

This is how you clean your earplugs

How do you properly clean your earplugs in a safe way, without damaging them? With these handy tips:

• Use a dry microfiber cloth to wipe off the superficial dirt.
• Are your earplugs very dirty? Then you can try to remove more stubborn dirt with a cotton swab or old toothbrush. (Note: do not use sharp objects such as a toothpick. They can damage your earplugs or push dirt deeper.) Keep the speakers down so that the dirt can easily fall out. You can dip the cotton swab in water or alcohol, but first check the manual to see if your earplugs can handle this. (For example, the Apple AirPods can’t handle alcohol – then wears off the white lacquer.) Also be careful that the moisture does not get into the speakers.
• If your earplugs have multiple parts (for example, attachments), detach them if you can and let them soak in lukewarm water, a drop of dishwashing liquid and/or soap. Then it is best to let them dry well overnight.
• Important: never put your earplugs in water yourself, even if they are water resistant.
• Do you have wired earplugs? Use a cloth or cotton ball with a little alcohol for this.
• You can also easily clean headphones by putting a little alcohol on a cotton ball. Water soaks into the headphones, so don’t use this. Also, do not go over the speakers or open parts to avoid damage. Do your headphones have fabric ear cushions? Then you can use a dust roller to remove the excess dust.

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