How to Remove Smell From Headphones in 8 Quick Steps

Are you tired of dealing with foul odors on your headphones? It’s a bit gross that cleaning them isn’t a regular thing in most households. Earphones house bacterial buildup from sweat, dirty, earwax, and so on. Using them daily makes them much dirtier, so why not try a few suggestions to keep them looking and smelling better?

To remove the smell from headphones, remove the padded inserts and scrub them with hydrogen peroxide using cotton swabs. Ensure you clean the inside of the headphones, too. Use rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, and wet wipes to clean strong odors and stains. Wipe them with a microfiber cloth daily.

Cleaning your headphones should be a normal part of your routine if you use them often. Some people sleep with their headphones in or over their ears, which leads to additional sweat buildup. You wouldn’t go months without washing your laundry, so why do it to your headphones?

Here’s my eight-step process I use to clean my headphones (I use wireless Bluetooth over-the-ear headphones for work and wired earbuds for exercise and sleeping, so there are remedies for both options below):

Prepare Your Headphones to Be Cleaned

Before you get started, gather all of the supplies you need to remove bad smells from your headphones. Below is a quick list of a handful of cleaning items you should have for the process:

• Hydrogen peroxide
• Wet wipes
• Rubbing alcohol
• Lots of warm water
• A microfiber cloth
• A soft sponge or dish rag
• Cotton swabs

Once you have everything you need, proceed to the next section to start removing the sweat and gross smells from your earbuds and headphones.

Remove the Padded Inserts From Your Headphones

Take off everything that’s removable from your headphones or earbuds. If they have the removable buds, take them off and set them aside so they don’t roll around. Many over-the-ear headphones have padded inserts you can take out. It’s important to remove everything since a lot of sweat gets trapped in inaccessible areas.

Much like cleaning a laptop sleeve, you should do your best to turn everything inside-out to expose the inner layer. Everything soaked to the bottom material, which is why it seems like surface scrubbing never gets the job done. It doesn’t matter how much you wipe the outside, the inside is where the problems form.

Note: Some Bluetooth headphones have optional wires to keep them going without relying on batteries or wireless connections. If you have headphones with these specifications, set the wire nearby so you can clean it during one of the following steps near the end of the page.

Use Hydrogen Peroxide to Get Rid of Earbud Odors

Hydrogen peroxide is naturally antibacterial, so it’ll strip away all of those gross smells in your headphones and earbuds. Don’t soak your headphones in the solution; Mix the hydrogen peroxide with water and scrub them with cotton swabs. This method will prevent them from getting too wet, which could risk them getting ruined.

Thomas Vanhoutte recommends using hand sanitizer since it contains rubbing alcohol. You can use any of the previous mentions cleaning supplies during this step. Use the cotton swabs to dig and remove earwax, sweat stains, and everything else you don’t want trapped in your headphones.

Feel free to soak the earbud tips in a 20/80 mix of hydrogen peroxide and warm water if they’re removable. Never soak any of the electrical parts since they’ll get damaged. You should be able to soak the removable earbud tips in the solution for about two to three minutes, dry them off, and reattach them when you’re done with the process.

Scrub the Headphone Pads With Detergent and Water

Headphonesty shows detergent and Q tips can make a world of difference when cleaning your headphones. Detergent is made with wonderful smelling ingredients to clean your clothes, so why not add it to your headphones? A little bit goes a long way, so only use a small pinch of detergent in about two cups of water.

Dip a sponge or Q tip in the mixture, then gently scrub the removable headphone pads. If you’re worried about soaking the earbud tips, you can apply the solution to them, too. Make sure there’s no material ripping off the pads. Some detergents are far too harsh, so test it on a small portion before covering the whole pad.

When you’re done getting rid of the smell on your headphones with detergent and warm water, dry them off with a microfiber cloth. It’s important to remove every drop so nothing can go back into your headphones. Set the pads or earbud tips in front of a fan for a few minutes before heading to the next step.

Clean the Wires and Cable Jack

Far too many people clean the inside of the headphones and forget about the wires and cable jack. Although they don’t collect much sweat, the built-up dirt and grime can wear them down. You wouldn’t want to have clean, fresh headphones with dirty, broken wires.

Fortunately, this is the easiest part of the process. All you have to do is use a clean. dry microfiber cloth and wipe the wires and jack from top to bottom. It’s not too time-consuming, but it can significantly improve your headphone’s quality. They’ll look and feel better and last longer.

Wipe the Headphones With Wet Wipes

Cleaning the outside of your headphones and earbuds to remove the smell is easy, too. Use rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs or wet wipes. Small, gentle circular motions will get rid of surface debris and odors trapped in the plastic. Again, test a small area to ensure it doesn’t stain or leave streaks.

If you don’t want to use wet wipes or rubbing alcohol, you can try a soft cloth and warm water. Many people claim water by itself is more than capable of cleaning their headphones, though it might not remove the smell. It’s an excellent tip to use between deep-cleaning sessions.

Store Your Headphones Properly So They Smell Better

Proper storage is crucial for your headphone’s longevity, smell, and quality. If you leave them tangled in the corner or in the kitchen, they’ll get covered in food particles and break apart much quicker than they should’ve. The same rule applies to those who use or store headphones in the bathroom.

Gadget Briefs offers a simple trick to store your headphones without too much sweat and moisture buildup: Use silica gel packets! These packets are used to keep food, clothes, and other items fresh while they’re being stored or shipped. The Dry & Dry Silica Packets come with 50 to 100 packets for less than a meal at a cheap restaurant.

Perhaps the best solution is to hang your headphones on the wall so they can ventilate. Airflow prevents moisture and bacteria from turning into mildew, mold, and foul smells on your headphones.

Dust Them After Each Use to Prevent Sweat Buildup

Finally, make sure you use a soft, clean microfiber cloth to wipe your headphones every time you use them for longer than a few minutes. It might seem like a lot of work at first, but it takes about 30 seconds and stretches the time between cleaning them with this lengthy process.

In Conclusion

Now that you know how to clean your headphones and remove the bad smell, there’s no reason to let them stay dirty. Whether you’re tired of the earwax and sweat building up or want to get rid of the odors and stains, it’s time to put your foot down and spend a few minutes keeping them in good condition.

Here’s a brief TL;DR:

• Use rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, and hydrogen peroxide to clean your headphones.
• Always remove anything that’s removable, including pads, buds, and so on.
• Most headphone odors come from sweat. earwax, and bacteria.