Do you wear your AirPods in your ears regularly, sometimes for hours? Even when you sweat during your workout? So they need occasional cleaning.
While some are content to wipe them down, others prefer to completely clean and disinfect their AirPods.
So here is the method I use to clean my AirPods Pro. The process is similar for AirPods. And if you prefer to follow the official advice of Apple, it’s here.
Adopt wipes and cotton swabs
I see people over-complicating the cleaning process. I prefer to keep it simple, using a few cotton swabs, a few camera lens wipes, and a disposable surface for cleaning.
The cleaning bench
Some people use isopropyl alcohol, but I’m hesitant about submerging my AirPods in solvent. I don’t think dissolving earwax and getting it deeper into the headphones is good for them in the long run. And then, it is possible that the plastic ends up being damaged.
So here is my process. First, I assess the “seriousness” of the situation. Apple replaced my AirPods Pro a few months ago because they suffered from a crackling issue. They look brand new. The case, meanwhile, is over two years old, and it does. It is scratched and missing pieces. Couldn’t clean or polish it to look like new.
I noticed that there is also a fair amount of dirt trapped in the Lightning port.
Dirt stuck in Lightning port
Handle the cotton swab gently
I start with the box. There are lots of nooks and crannies in this design, and they trap a lot of debris. Around the hinge area where the AirPods sit, and the connectors at the bottom that provide power to charge the headphones all appear to be dirt magnets.
However, there’s nothing a lens wipe (you can also use screen cleaner) and a cotton swab can’t fix. I was surprised how easily it came off. The cotton swab is particularly handy for cleaning around the charging connectors.
Cleaning the ear cups
Like I said, the headphones themselves were pretty clean. However, they have benefited from a general cleaning. To clean the Lightning port, I used – gently and carefully – the bamboo swab from the cotton swab. Be careful, don’t gorilla, and you should be fine.
Almost like new
My AirPods Pro are definitely not like new, but they look a lot cleaner and a lot more hygienic.
How often should you clean your AirPods? It really depends. If you wait a few months between each cleaning, they will keep looking fresh. However, it’s probably been more than a year since I cleaned my case… so everyone has their own way!
Source: ZDNet.com