Clean Your AirPods and EarPods Without Damaging Them

Speaker 1: Your AirPods can get gross and you need to clean them regularly. Today. I'm gonna show you how to clean your AirPods and your EarPods without damaging them. I'm also gonna show you some cheap cleaning tools that you can buy, which may help you keep your AirPods in EarPods clean. Before I get going, hit subscribe for how to videos from CNET, We're gonna use the official guidelines published by apple on how to clean your AirPods, AirPods pro EarPods, [00:00:30] and the charging case on this page, you will also find guidance on how to clean AirPods max, which I can't afford. So I'm gonna focus on AirPods and a wired set of EarPods, which are recently couldn't use on a long flight because of eighth inch adapter problems. Thanks again, apple. The first thing on Apple's list says don't run AirPods or AirPods pro under running water. Speaker 1: Water can seep into the crevices and most certainly will impede the audio quality of your AirPods or EarPods. And [00:01:00] you most definitely don't watch your audio. Impeded things could sound muffled and ruin your day. Instead. Apple suggests you use a soft, dry Litt free cloth, gently wipe away all the gun and ear wax that is built up on your AirPods over time until they are sparkly new again, Litt free is key here because you don't want tiny pieces of Litt attaching to the mesh covering of the microphone. Owned speakers. Lint can impede your audio quality too much. Like it impedes my iPhone's ability to charge every month. If you can't find a [00:01:30] li free cloth lying around the house and look into purchasing one, they're not too expensive. Apple even sells what they call a polishing cloth for $19, which is not cheap. Now the third, third bullet point on Apple's cleaning guidelines explains what to do. If your AirPods were exposed to any chemicals that could potentially stain your EarPods or AirPods, apple lists a ton of chemicals here, including soap, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, perfume, solvents, detergents acids, acidic foods, [00:02:00] insect rep pellets, sunscreen oil, or hair. If any of these products accidentally make contact with your AirPods, which is completely possible. And here's what apple says to do. You can wipe them clean with a cloth, slightly dampen with fresh water, and then dry them with a soft, dry Litt free cloth. Speaker 1: You must allow them to completely dry before placing them back in the charging case. Apple adds the next bullet point, just to double down, do not attempt to use them until they're completely dry. [00:02:30] Apple is very adamant about liquid getting into the AirPods or earbuds and clearly states to make sure not to get any liquid in the openings. Speaker 1: If you look really close at AirPods and EarPods, you'll see tiny microphone and speaker meshes. These can get all gunked up with ear wax and dust and need to be clean as well. Apple says the best way to clean these parts is with a dry cotton swab. You want to be gentle and not push stuff [00:03:00] into the speaker and microphone mesh, but slowly and carefully, try to get everything out without pushing too hard. The last bullet point is a warning not to use sharp objects because they could potentially damage the speaker or the microphone. Apple says not to use sharp objects or abrasive materials to clean your AirPod AirPods pro or EarPods. Just stick with a dry li free cloth in a Q-tip and you should be good to go bling. See how clean and beautiful they are. Now. Speaker 1: [00:03:30] Now Apple's guidelines on how to clean wired EarPods are almost exactly identical to how to clean AirPods, except for one minor D apple says you can use a clean, soft, dry bristled brush to remove any debris from the microphone and speaker meshes on the EarPods. Other than the clean, dry, soft bristled brush. The rest of the guidelines are identical to the AirPods in AirPods pro. Now your case is another place that can collect dirt and oils from your skin [00:04:00] along with ear wax buildup and general grossness. So it's a good idea to clean your AirPods case on the regular. Also here's how apple says you should clean your AirPods charging case. Use a soft, dry lit free cloth to wipe down the charging case. If you want to disinfect, you can use a cloth that is slightly dampen with ISO propo. Alcohol apple says to make sure not to get any liquid inside the charging ports, getting the charging ports wet could certainly damage the charging case and these things are expensive. So be very [00:04:30] careful. You can remove any debris from the lightning connector with a clean, dry, soft bristled brush, much like the AirPods apple says not to use abrasive materials to clean the charging. K and finally apple says not to put anything in the charging ports to avoid damaging the metal contacts inside. And that's it. Now you got a shiny and clean charging case for your newly sanitized AirPod to live inside of Speaker 1: Apple has also published [00:05:00] guidelines, cleaning the Eart tips for the AirPods pro, but I don't have a pair of those, but I imagine they can get incredibly disgusting. So I'm gonna leave a link on how to do that in the description of this video and call it a day. But to paraphrase, apple says to use a soft, dry lit free cloth and water. It clearly says not to use soap and to dry them lead before snapping them back on. There are some third party cleaning tools out there designed specifically to clean AirPods and EarPods. This little [00:05:30] device is an earbuds cleaner for AirPods, otherwise known as a headphones cleaning pen for wireless earbuds by a company called Becky. It also looks like it doubles as an interrogation device in star yours. If you read about this item on Amazon, it does go against some of Apple's guidelines, but it does also possess a dry bristled brush for those mic and speaker meshes on the EarPods. So here's the AirPods cleaning tool. It comes in this [00:06:00] little tube and then this little soft sponge, and here's the dry bristle brush. Then it has a sharp object on the end, which apple does not recommend sticking into your wire meshes of your AirPods. Yeah. So this thing works pretty well to get gun out of the speaker meshes. Speaker 1: No, do not do that. No. [00:06:30] It also has what is called a soft flocking sponge, which is says, is for inserting into the charging case to clean it out. Apple says that's a no-no, but maybe the sponge makes it a bit less risky. I'm being very careful. So I don't go down and touch the contacts, but it does fit perfectly inside the charging case. It can get out all the gun and I don't think it's gonna damage the contacts if it touches them. Cause it's very, very soft. [00:07:00] Apple says you could use the soft, dry bristle brush to clean the lightning connector. On the charging case, You could also wash and reuse the cleaning pen multiple times, potentially saving money in the long term, not having to purchase Lynch free cloths and cotton swaps. Well, that's how to clean your AirPods AirPods pro EarPods and the charging case. If you found this video helpful that subscribe like [00:07:30] and ring that bell for more, how to videos from CNET, massive YouTube channel. And let me know in the comments, how you keep your stuff clean and buy for now.