How to Clean AirPods and Earbud Speaker Mesh

Why earbuds go quiet

Earbuds sit in a warm ear canal for hours at a time. Earwax softens, reaches the mesh and hardens there when the bud cools. The mesh on an earbud is only a few millimetres across, so a small amount of wax blocks a large share of it. The usual sign is one bud that sounds quieter or thinner than the other, with the bass disappearing first.

What you need

• A soft, dry, clean brush. A child’s toothbrush works well.
• Cleaning putty or low-tack adhesive putty
• A dry microfibre cloth
• For silicone tips: water and a drop of mild soap

Cleaning the mesh

1. Remove silicone tips if your earbuds have them and set them aside.
2. Hold the bud with the mesh facing down. Loosened wax should fall away from the driver.
3. Brush gently across the mesh in short strokes. Do not press. The mesh dents easily.
4. Lift with putty. Press a small piece on, hold for a second, pull straight off. Repeat with a clean surface until it comes away clean.
5. Clean the other openings. Many earbuds have small microphone and vent meshes on the stem and body. Brush these as well, since a blocked vent changes the sound too.
6. Wipe the body with the dry cloth.

Wash silicone tips separately in soapy water, rinse them and let them dry fully before refitting.

What to avoid

• Pins and toothpicks through the mesh. It is easy to push straight through.
• Running water or soaking. Water resistance on earbuds is limited and wears off with age.
• Compressed air. It forces wax further in.
• Alcohol on the mesh. A lightly dampened cloth is fine for the plastic body. Keep liquid off the mesh itself.

Can a tone help?

A little. Earbud drivers are much smaller than phone speakers and move less air, so a tone cannot throw wax out. It can shake loose dry flakes after brushing. If you try it, take the earbuds out of your ears first, place them mesh-down on a cloth, set a moderate volume and run the Clear dust mode in the water eject tool once.

If the earbuds got wet, the same applies: out of your ears, mesh down, moderate volume, then leave them out of the case to air-dry for a few hours. Do not put damp earbuds back in the charging case.

One side still quieter?

Before blaming the hardware, rule out the simple causes.

• Balance setting. Phones have a left/right audio balance slider in accessibility settings. Make sure it is centred.
• Fit. A loose tip leaks bass and makes one side sound weak. Try a different tip size.
• Connection. Forget the earbuds in Bluetooth settings and pair them again.

Then run a left and right stereo test with the earbuds in at a comfortable volume. If one side is still clearly quieter after cleaning, it is likely a driver or battery fault, and the maker’s support is the next step.

Clean the case too

Wax and lint collect in the bottom of the charging case and transfer back onto clean earbuds. Brush the wells out dry, and wipe the charging contacts with a dry cotton cloth.

More cleaning help

The full method for phone grilles is in the guide to cleaning phone speakers without damage. For wireless speakers rather than earbuds, see how to fix a Bluetooth speaker with no sound.