After extended use your earbuds get pretty dirty—both on the microscopic and the visible "that came out of my ear?" level. This simple guide will help you defunk your earbuds to keep your eyes happy and the tunes clear.
Photo by dusk-photography.
Earbuds can get dirty surprisingly fast, especially if you use in-ear earbuds—the sealed design increases the heat in the ear canal and leads to more ear wax and oils accumulating on the bud. You can't just dunk them in water and shake them around however, especially if you spend big bucks on them to please your audiophile ears.
Over at the technology-centric blog GeekSugar they highlight several ways you can clean your ear buds:
Use a gentle cleaner, like soap and warm water. No need to go too heavy-duty here; try a mix of dishwashing detergent and water.
[Ed Note: To wipe! Not to dunk!]
Use a gentle cloth with just a small amount of the soap mixture. Too much soap could leave a residue on your earbuds, and too much water, well that goes without saying.
If there's a lot of dirt or dust in the metal part of your earbuds, try brushing them with a dry toothbrush to dislodge the dust.
For more tips and techniques visit the article at the link below. If you have your own tips for cleaning earbuds, let's hear about it in the comments.
How-To: Spring Clean Your Earbuds [GeekSugar]