Jun 08, 2019

How to Clean Beats Headphones

Beats headphone won’t keep that box-fresh look and smell forever. Over time, exposure to pollutants, such as dirt, dust, sweat and makeup, can leave your beautifully designed headphones looking battered and knackered. It can leave them with an unpleasant smell, too.

But don’t retire them just yet. Here are our tips for cleaning your Beats headphones.

Always remember to turn your headphones off completely before attempting to clean them.

How to Clean Beats Headphones

Wiping down each earpad with a soft cloth is the easiest way to clean them. A microfiber cloth is best for this (the type you wipe computer monitors or CDs with). Microfiber cloths are made from small fibres that collect dust and dirt more easily than paper towels or fabric cloths can; it picks up and removes grime rather than just sliding it around on the surface.

A microfiber cloth should remove a good portion of the dirt but if it doesn’t then you can lightly dampen it. Water may help remove stubborn marks just don’t get it too wet as Beats headphones aren’t moisture-proof. You want just enough water to do the job. Liquid soup can help, too. Work in gentle circles with only enough pressure as necessary.

Alcohol rub or wipes can damage the cushion so use these with caution.

Once you’re finished, pat the earpads dry with a paper towel or leave them to dry naturally. We don’t recommend wearing them when they’re still damp.

A Q-tip or earbud is helpful if there’s a particularly stubborn piece of dirt as it allows you to put some pressure behind it reach those harder to get at areas.

Getting into the habit of wiping down your earpads regularly will help keep them looking fresher for longer. It might seem simple but it’s effective. The longer that dirt and grease sit on the earpads the harder it will be to remove and the more damage it will do.

If you notice a funky smell coming from either inside the headphone or on the cushions themselves, there’s a neat little trick suggested on the iFixit website. One user asked how to get rid of an odour that appeared to be coming from inside the headphone’s speakers. The headphones were working fine and there was no discolouration to suggest that anything had leaked over it. One reply suggested putting the Beats headphones into an airtight plastic container with either a cloth or sock of charcoal briquettes. Charcoal is extremely porous and can efficiently absorb lingering smells, and when placed in an enclosed environment, should reduce odour coming from the headphone. It’s definitely worth a try.

You should keep your headphones out of direct sunlight, too. If your Beats are white, this is especially important as exposure to UV can turn the cushions yellow.

Store your Beats headphones in a case when you’re not wearing them to keep dirt, dust and germs from settling on the earpads.

You can also remove the earpads entirely, and then either thoroughly clean them as described above with a microfiber cloth and water, or buy a replacement pair. Separating the cushions from the headphone is relatively easy, and can be done with the dull edge of a knife by prising apart the adhesive joining the earpad to the headphone. YouTube has a number of tutorials showing you how to do this. You can then give your Beats a more thorough clean but if they’re too badly damaged then you’ll need to buy and affix a replacement pair.

Keeping Your Beats Sweat-Stain Free

Sweat-damage is a common factor in why headphones need cleaning. Unfortunately, Beats don’t make sweat covers for its headphones and they don’t design their on-ear or over-ear headphones for working out but that doesn’t stop many of us from wearing them when we exercise.

If you exercise in headphones, then a gentle clean may not be enough. If you’re going to keep replacing sweat-damaged headphones, then it’s going to start getting expensive. There’s a better way of doing things. Once you’ve cleaned or replaced your earpads, then it’s time to get proactive about protection against dirt and unpleasant smells, and there’s a really simple way to protect Beats headphones from sweat damage: by adding moisture-proof covers to the cushions.

Sweat-proof covers wick moisture away from the headphone before it can soil the earpad. That means no more unpleasant smells and no sweat or oily stains, either. Wear make-up when you wear Beats headphones? It’ll keep foundation, concealer and blush off the cushions, too.

And don’t worry about it upsetting the sharp design of your Beats headphones — EarHugz sweat-resistant covers are all fully reversible to black and they’re machine washable which makes them hygienic, too.

The easiest way to clean Beats headphones is to prevent them from getting so filthy in the first place.

Why Do My Beats Headphones Get So Dirty?

You’re probably super-careful with your Beats headphones when you first get them. You probably put them back in the case. You might carefully wipe down the pads when you take them off. You may carefully set them inside your gym locker rather than throw them in or toss them into a gym bag.

We tend to get complacent once the novelty of owning a new pair has worn off. Dirt and germs get into and onto our headphones because we put them down in dirty places: on tables, on chairs, on gym equipment, on the floor, in a locker, on a car seat. We touch them with sweaty or dirty hands and they rub up against hair, moisture or make-up. They collect dust when we’re not wearing them. Drinks or food might be spilt over them. The things lurking at the bottom of our bag rub up against them. When we hang them around our necks oil and sweat can leave a film on the cushions. There are a hundred thousand ways our Beats headphones can get a little (or a lot) dirty.

Headphone covers are the easiest and simplest way to keep your Beats headphones clean. They protect in real-time while your headphones are on your head, unlike other methods which only deal with a problem once it’s happened.

Only EarHugz can stop your headphones from smelling like something crawled out from underneath a treadmill and died inside your earpads.