How often do you clean them, and how? Any cautionary tales?
I use a q-tip with a little bit of alcohol on it. Rub very carefully over the speaker part. I remove the flexible earpiece part and just rinse that out in the sink. I usually do it once a week because my ears get kind of waxy.
I replace the foams every 10,000 kms.
I tap them and blow on them before I put them back into their case. In case there are any little ear wax flakes. I don’t tend to have much in the way out of ear wax.
You are lucky. I have wax on tap.
I use a tissue to clean my ears before I use them and take off the little silicon plug thingy every long once in a while and wash them in my hand with some dish soap
For that reason, I have headphones instead.
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I got an airpod cleaning multi tool from Amazon and it actually works really well.
Also if you have the Sony xm1004, they have little foam bits in them and over the years they get soaked up with sweat and earwax, it’s really gross. So if you think your sound is super quiet and have earbuds with foam inserts, first use some tweezers and something to gently squeeze out the foam and clean with isopropyl alcohol.
I wash them up then I put them inside me
When I see earwax on them, I brush it out with an old toothbrush, then clean the toothbrush with soap and water.
Several times a week, i put them in the dryer with my hearing aids. No, not the clothes dryer, one of these; it uses UV light to disinfect, and also dehumidifies the contents to prevent moisture damage.
It needs to be done carefully. If earwax has gotten onto the grill, it’s easy to squish it into the grill and your earbuds will sound extremely muddy and quiet. I usually try to prevent this by removing any visible wax collecting on the rubber ear bud. If it’s on the grill anyways, remove the rubber earbuds, add a drop of hydrogen peroxide onto the wax and let it sit for a minute. Afterwards use a toothbrush at an angle to “scrape” the wax off. This is to prevent mushing the earwax into the grill mentioned previously.
If the earbuds are muddy you can attempt to use a finer brush and scrub vigorously. It’s a little gross but you can blow on the grill to clear it sometimes. God forbid don’t suck.
