How To Protect Beats Headphones from Sweat Damage

Which do you love more: your workout or your Apple Beats Headphones? 

Sophie’s Choice, right?

But which would you pick if you had to?

What would be your compromise:  the music that you listen to OR the weights that you’re lifting? Sweat damages Beats and that’s a problem if you’re wearing them to the gym.  What’s good for the body isn’t good for your headphones.

Sweating is how the body regulates its temperature.  When we’re too hot our pores start to produce moisture which is then evaporated from the surface of our skin and into the air. It’s called thermoregulation and it’s how we’re able to keep cool during exercise.  What’s an effective and necessary process for the human body, however, isn’t so great for your headphones as sweat is corrosive.

This problem isn’t specific to Beats.  

Sweat damage effects Bose, and Sennheiser headphones, as well as Sony models and Philips headphones, too.  The problem for premium brands is precisely that: premium brands are more expensive, costing more money to replace than a pair that is cheaper. Beats Studio 3 Wireless Headphones currently retail at £299.95.  

How often could you afford to buy another pair?

How Can You Protect Your Beats Headphones From Sweat?

The internet has a TON of advice on this and it offers some pretty unsatisfactory answers. Answers that read more like compromises than solutions, like this one:

Q. How can I stop sweat damaging my Beats headphones?

A: Leave them at home.  

That might be 100% correct but it’s also super unhelpful.

We’ve rounded up a few answers that you might like to consider as well as offering what we think is the only real solution.  One that’ll allow you to wear your Beats during exercise without the risk of sweat damage.

Wipe Your Headphones Down After Each Workout

This is something we should all be doing regularly regardless of how hard our workout was.  A pack of antibacterial wipes or a small bottle of sanitizer easily fits inside a gym bag or locker and if used regularly will reduce the number of bacteria on your headphone cushions.  Good news if you wear makeup during exercise as it will also wipe away any foundation or blusher residue from the leather.  It’ll also help reduce your risk of exercise-induced acne and could potentially stop you from getting middle-ear infections (if you’re prone to them).  Over time, bacteria will cause an unpleasant odour, too, one that you won’t be able to Febreeze into oblivion.

The problem is that it won’t stop moisture seeping into the electronics of the headphone and that’s where the real damage is being done. No amount of wet wiping can reverse that.

Stop Sweat Damaging Your Beats Headphones with EarHugz

We’re not just plugging Ear Hugs because we’re trying to flog them (okay, yes, that’s part of it), BUT Ear Hugs were designed and created by someone who had the exact same problem as you: how to stop sweat killing Beats

Ear Hugz are sweat-resistant headphone covers that go directly over the cushions of your Beats headphones.  Using Ultra-Stretch, MAX-DRI™ + Machine Washable fabric, EarHugz wick sweat away from the delicate electronic components inside the headphones.  They come in a range of awesome designs but are all fully reversible to black.  They’ve just dropped a fab new limited edition range, too, with the added option of customisation.

Visit the EarHugz Store to see the exciting new range that includes Union Jack, Peach Emoji and Red Camo designs.

Need we say that sweat-proofing your headphones is WAY cheaper than buying a replacement set of Beats. What’s more is that from every sale, £1 is donated to the Mental Health Foundation which does incredible work supporting those with mental illnesses.

Switch to Earphones to Save Your Headphones from Sweat Damage.

This is another common answer, and it’s not a ridiculous response.  Earphones can break due to excess moisture, too, but as they sit in the ear canal as opposed to over the top of it, the impact of sweat damage is reduced.

The problem is that not everyone is able to wear earphones.  Ear canals are not universal in size and so manufacturers can only offer their best guess as to what’s going to be comfortable for most people.  If earphones are going to slide out of your ear every few moments or if they’re uncomfortable, then how will you be able to give 100% to your workout?

There’s the small matter of earphone hygiene, too.  Earphones can create up to 11 times the amount of bacteria normally found in the ear canal.  This is partly due to the fact many of us are pretty careless with them: wrapping them around things, dropping them into the bottom of our bags, throwing them into gym lockers or down onto benches and tables.  If there’s moist wax on the silicone bud, then it’s easier for bacteria to attach to and that’s pretty disgusting.  

If you do decide to swap your Beats for earphones, then we’d highly recommend that you clean them regularly.

Leave Your Beats at Home

We mentioned this in the introduction and no, we haven’t changed our minds.  It’s still a rather unhelpful answer. If someone asks how can they protect their glasses during exercise, then telling them to leave their spectacles at home isn’t much of a help, even if the answer isn’t wrong.

By not taking your Beats headphones to the gym, you will 100% SAVE them from sweat damage - it’s true.

But at what cost?

Music can help increase athletic performance by up to 15%.  Podcasts and playlists and audiobooks are all tremendous distractions from what can sometimes feel like the longest workout of your life.  Leave your headphones at home and then what? Hold your ears hostage to whatever crap the gym’s PA system is pumping out?  Focus on the sound of you ever increasing, ever desperate breath as you check the timer on the treadmill for the 145th time in 10 minutes?

Hell. No.  

Leave your headphones at home if that’s what you want to do but for the rest of us, just buy a bloody pair of EarHugz and crack on.

You’ve already bought your Beats so why not enjoy them?  Beats haven’t always had the greatest reputation amongst audiophiles BUT they’re quickly becoming the go-to gym headphone thanks to Apple’s W1 chip which offers  Fast Fuel: 3 hours of playback from just 5 minutes of charge.

Giving EarHugz a try?  We’d LOVE to hear how you’ve been getting on, and you should absolutely, 100% tag us in your pictures so we can see how amazing and sweat-proof your gorgeous headphones are.