White Headphones: Their Dirty Secret to Staying Clean

Anyone who’s used headphones at some point wonders how to keep white headphones clean. Because these attract more dirt, plus there is the annoying process of discoloration. As a result, you end up with yellow headphones when you originally bought white ones. The following discussion will address all these issues. 

To keep your white headphones as good as new, you have to clean them regularly. This can be anywhere from every three days to once a month. If you can maintain this routine, you will always have clean and healthy headphones. 

Those of you who have been struggling to keep your headphones clean but are unsure how to do so without damaging your device, give the article a read!

The Importance Of Cleaning Your Headphones

You need to keep your headphones clean for mainly two reasons. One of them is to maintain ear health. The other one has to do with keeping your headphones in service for the long term. 

When you keep your headphones on, they catch some of the wax, dead cells, and other debris in your ear. If this debris is not cleaned up regularly, it keeps on accumulating. 

Alongside this biological dirt, the headphones also collect normal dust particles on them. Over time, all of this results in a very unhealthy earpiece. When this comes into contact with your ear, it has the potential to cause ear infections and other diseases. 

Secondly, unclean headphones lose their performance easily. Because the accumulating dirt prevents the internal machinery from working properly. Plus, lack of maintenance also causes the plastic of the headphones to degrade quickly, which might turn your white headphones into yellow ones.

How To Keep White Headphones Clean?

If you have been using headphones for a while, you might have at some point thought long and hard about how to keep white headphones clean. Well, it can be tricky. Because you have to free it from dirt, but at the same time, keep its delicate parts intact. 

First, you have to set a routine. It may be once a week or once a month. However, if you suffer from dandruff or too much ear wax, then cleaning every three days is advisable. Let’s see the things you need to keep close at hand. 

The Cleaning Materials 

First of all, you need a piece of cloth. And this should be a smooth cotton cloth. Don’t wear clothes with a rough surface. Because those might scratch the headphones. 

Also, make sure the clothes don’t have loose threads coming out of them. Because those might get stuck to your surface. 

For disinfecting purposes, keep rubbing alcohol. This will effectively sterilize the surface of your headphones. At the same time, it doesn’t have any corrosive effect on the plastic. You can also use hand sanitizer instead of rubbing alcohol. 

To reach the more challenging spots, you will need cotton buds or Q-tips. For similar reasons, you might have to use adhesive tape. So keep those at hand too. You might also want to arrange for a soft toothbrush. 

And lastly, keep soap and water nearby. You will need them to clean stubborn grime or greasy dirt. Dishwater soap should do fine in this case. 

Cleaning Your White Over-ear Headphones

Before you begin, remember to be gentle with the cleaning. Because headphones have many soft and sensitive parts, such as foam or leather pads. These things can easily be damaged if you are not careful.

Cleaning the body of headphones

So, remove the earpads from your headphones. Then take the cloth and damp it with soap water. Here, warm water is preferable. After that, wipe the exterior of the headphone with this damp cloth. 

After applying the wet cloth, take a paper towel. Use it to dry wipe the headphones. Then, leave the headphones to fully dry up in the air.

Cleaning the ear pads

While the headphones are drying up, use the time to clean the ear pads. First, damp the piece of cloth with alcohol. Then, wipe the outer portion of the earpad with it. 

Use the cotton buds to clean the finer crevices of the ear pad. Damp the cotton buds in the alcohol and use them gently to rid the crevices of dust and dirt.

For cleaning the foam mesh of the ear pad, put some alcohol or hand sanitizer on them. You don’t want too much of the cleaning material on the foam. So, apply the alcohol in a dabbing manner. 

After that, gently rub the left and right ear pads together. This will kill any microbes residing on the foam surface. Plus, any greasy dirt will come off easily. Work gently. Otherwise, you run the risk of damaging the soft material. Make sure everything is completely dry before you put it back together.

Consider replacement

If you have been using your headphones’ earpads for some time now, you might consider replacing them. Because, over the years, some of the debris might become permanently lodged in the pads. Therefore, no matter how hard you try, you are never going to clean your headphones. 

In this case, replacement is the best option. It’s not mandatory to get the ear pads from the same manufacturer that made the headphones. There are many cheaper and more suitable options to be found on the market. 

Cleaning Your White Earbuds

Although headphones commonly refer to over-the-ear headphones, oftentimes they are used interchangeably with earbuds or in-the-ear headphones. And there’s a good chance you have a pair too. Because they always come as accessories when you buy a new mobile. So, their maintenance process is covered here too. 

As with the headphones, you have to be gentle and careful when cleaning your earbuds. Follow these steps below to clean your earbuds- 

• First, hold the portion that goes into your ears (the wire mesh) downwards. Then use the toothbrush (should be dry) to gently brush the mesh work. This will clean any ear wax or other debris stuck in the mesh. After using the brush, tap on the earbuds gently. This will further dislodge any dirt present.

• After you are done with the toothbrush, take a bent paperclip and some adhesive tape. Gently use the clip to clean the mesh again. Lastly, use the tape to get rid of any remaining fine dust. 

• Now damp the cloth with some rubbing alcohol. Do not soak the cloth, because you don’t want the insides of your earbuds getting too wet. With the damp cloth, quickly wipe the mesh and the wires. 

• If your earbuds come with sleeves or tips, remove them. Then, soak them in warm soapy water. Keep them there for at least five minutes. Now, take the sleeves out and completely dry them in the air before reattaching them. 

How To Stop Your White Headphone From Turning Yellow?

If you have been using white headphones for some time, you must have wondered how to keep them from turning yellow. Because who wants to end up with yellow headphones when they bought white ones in the first place. 

For natural reasons, white headphones turn yellow. It happens mainly because the plastic goes through a degradation and discoloration process with time. 

Therefore, most of the time, you can’t do anything about it. Physically scraping the yellow layer might work. But that will also do overall damage to your headphones. 

However, you can try something that many people have found to work. For that, you will need some hydrogen peroxide, a common disinfectant that you will find at any pharmacist’s shop. Or, you can check the first aid box in your home for one. 

Apply the hydrogen peroxide as a thin layer on your white headphones’ plastic parts. Then cover the whole thing in a cellophane sheet and put it in bright sunlight for several hours.

Do this once every week. Hopefully, this will keep your headphones from turning yellow. 

If you cannot find hydrogen peroxide, you can use lemon juice or bleach instead. However, use hydrogen peroxide for the best effects.

Final Thoughts on Cleaning White Headphones

Electronic accessories like headphones are now a part of our everyday lives. Therefore, the thought of how to keep white headphones clean crosses everyone’s minds from time to time. All it takes is a routine and some gentle care. 

And you will preserve the health of both your ears and the headphones.