How to Remove Earwax from AirPods

Getting earwax in your earphones is normal after extended use. Regular hygiene is sometimes not enough, and besides, there are many other bacteria and microbes in your earphones, not just earwax.

Cleaning your Airpods is very important, and if you want to learn how to remove earwax from them, you are in the right place. You probably put these wireless earbuds to good use, wearing them nearly every single day.

After prolonged use, you may have noticed earwax on the surface, but they don’t have to look bad to be dirty. Read on for detailed Airpods cleaning tips.

Why You Should Clean Your Airpods Regularly

There is much more to dirty Airpods than just the aesthetics. Nobody likes seeing dirt, earwax, or anything alike on their stuff, especially not on the things they are wearing every day. Not only do your Airpods look gross when they are dirty, but they can also be harmful to you.

When using dirty Airpods, you are exposing your ears to numerous, potentially harmful bacteria. You can get an ear infection for starters, but things can escalate very quickly. Don’t let this happen. Clean your Airpods at least once a month, if not even more often.

Don’t forget to clean the case as well! It doesn’t matter if your Airpods are clean if the case is a cave filled with bacteria. Without any ado, let’s get to the cleaning tips.

Airpods Cleaning Tips

Here’s the first thing you should know about dirty Airpods. If you notice any change in the quality of sound, such as muffled bass, take a closer look at the earbuds. See if they are soiled with earwax because the chances are that they will be.

You shouldn’t wait for this to happen, but the muffled sound is a good sign of dirty earbuds. The tips here aim at Airpods users, but they apply to all earbuds, both wireless and wired. Before doing any of the following, make sure that the issue is not software related (due to lousy pairing).

Pair your Airpods with your device once again, after soft resetting them (press the button at the bottom of the charging case for ten seconds). If the sound problem persists, you’ve got to get to cleaning.

Apple’s Tips

Here are some of the essential tips for cleaning your Airpods from Apple. These tips are entirely valid, and won’t harm your Airpods or the case. However, they are not as effective as the other tips we are about to show you.

Regardless, here are the official suggestions. Apple suggests that you only use a soft cloth, without any moisture or lint. They say you shouldn’t use any chemicals, soap, liquids, etc.

So, use a dry cloth gently clean the openings on your Airpods. You can pull out the ear tips on both Airpods and wash them with fresh water. Then, dry the tips well before reattaching them to your Airpods.

You can also use a q-tip (cotton swab) to clean the meshes and the microphone. You should clean the charging case with a soft brush, without any water or other liquids.

Alternative Method

Note that the alternative method comes from Airpods users who weren’t satisfied with Apple’s cleaning tips, so they came up with their own. For this method, you are going to use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, cotton tips (buds, swabs, whichever term you like), kitchen wipes or soft cloth, a hairdryer, and a paperclip.

When you have all of these things prepared, follow the instructions:

1. Use an unfolded paperclip to scrape the visible earwax formed on the Airpods holes. Do it carefully to avoid damaging the mesh.
2. Take the Airpods and gently tap them on a hard surface to release the earwax from the holes. You need to align the Airpods so that the holes are facing down.
3. Then, apply very little hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol to the cotton swab.
4. Wipe down all the holes on your Airpods with the cotton tip.
5. Take a hairdryer and slowly heat each Airpod for only about a minute (or less).
6. Put your mouth near the holes and blow through them.

Your Airpods should be clean, rid of earwax, and other gunk.

Good as New

If you have followed the tips carefully, your Airpods should be completely clean now. Remember that they are not waterproof, so use a very slight amount of liquid, if any at all. Don’t use any liquids when cleaning the Airpods case.

In case the sound on your Airpods is still muffled after they are squeaky clean, contact Apple support and ask for help or a substitute. Remember that if you regularly clean your ears with soap and water, you’ll prevent most of the earwax buildup.

Feel free to hit the comments section and let us know how the Airpods cleaning went for you.