If you’ve ever used hearing protection before, then you know how important it is to keep those plugs clean. Earwax can build up over time and cause issues for your ears and hearing. That’s why it’s important to clean out your custom-molded earplugs once in a while to improve sound quality. Important if you’re not using disposable earplugs.
In this guide, we take you through how to clean earplugs so that you can maintain good hygiene when using reusable earplugs.
Supplies You Will Need
Before you start cleaning your custom-made earplugs, gather the following supplies:
- Rubbing alcohol (50%)
- Water
- Soft bristle brush or any other soft brush
- A bowl or cup for soaking the earplugs in.
- Paper towel
- Fresh water, at least one cup per pair of earplugs
- A bowl or sink to hold the warm water
- Cotton balls (or cotton swabs) for applying the cleaning solution and drying afterward
Don’t use these materials:
- Any kind of mild soap, detergent, or other cleaning chemicals. Your ears will be irritated by them, and they won’t help any more than non-chlorinated water does.
How to Clean Earplugs – The Process
To get the best out of the cleaning process, you should consider doing the following to get the benefit of custom earplugs:
Remove Your Earplugs from the Case
- Remove your custom earplugs from the case. The first step to cleaning your earplugs is to safely remove them from the packaging they came in, carefully avoiding any damage like water damage to either the plugs or your hands.
- If you are cleaning more than one pair of earplugs at a time, it may be helpful for you to use a bowl or cup for mixing cleaning solutions according to the instructional video.
- Wash your hands or use antibacterial hand wash or soapy water. This is particularly important if you have recently had an illness such as pneumonia or influenza. But even if you haven’t been sick lately this can help prevent infection from spreading throughout the earplug-cleaning process. This can go into other areas of life where bacteria might thrive once it has been introduced through dirty headphones!
Separate the Earplug Halves (If Applicable)
If the custom earplugs are moldable, you can separate the halves. You will notice a seam on each of them, and when you separate these halves, you will see that there is a small hole in each half of the earplug.
The hole is to allow water to drain from inside your ear canal. This hole must remain open so that it can be cleaned easily with soapy water or any other cleaning solution that you choose.
If your foam earplugs do not have this seam or if they cannot be separated into two pieces, then your plugs are not moldable and should not be cleaned!
Examine the Earplug for any Visible Dirt or Debris
Examine the earplug for any visible dirt or debris. Use a soft cloth to clean any surface dirt from the earplug. You do not need to go into the ear canal to do this. The most important aspect of cleaning earplugs is removing wax and debris that can build up in the moldable material.
You should not use water or isopropyl alcohol on your silicone putty earplugs. Excess water can damage the original shape of the plugs over time. Similarly, you should avoid using paper clean towels for cleaning because they can scratch your silicone plugs and leave behind fibers that may irritate your ears.
Do not use a Q-tip either – doing so could cause harm to your eardrum by pushing the wax deeper into it!
Finally, never ever try using anything such as an eyebrow brush other than a soft cloth or cotton swab when cleaning your earplugs to maintain sound clarity.
Use Soft Brush to Remove the Dirt
In the same way, you clean your handgun with a brush, the best way to clean earplugs is to use a soft bristle brush on the alpine earplugs. The soft baby nail brush should be small enough to fit in the ear canal and can be used with or without water. You can also use a dry cloth or paper towel also if there’s no baby nail brush to get the cleanest plugs.
Using the soft bristle brush, scrub each side of your earplugs until they are clean. You may need to rinse them off with cold running water first if they are particularly dirty or clogged with wax.
If you don’t have access to some bit of water, simply rub them gently with the cloth towel until they are clean enough for you to put back in your ears safely again without irritation!
Wash Your Hands with Hot Water and Soap
You’ll want to wash your hands with hot water and soap. Make sure you dry your hands thoroughly afterward by using a paper towel instead of a hand dryer. This will help protect the materials of your ears earplugs as much as possible during regular cleaning.
Create an Alcohol and Water Solution
Create a solution of 50% rubbing alcohol, 50% water and mix it well in the bowl or plastic container. You may also follow video instructions on YouTube on how to do the cleaning with alcohol-based cleaners.
Mixing enough of this solution to submerge your push-in foam earplugs is helpful if you’re planning to clean multiple pairs at once, but making it glass by glass or day by day is fine too.
- Mixing enough of this solution to submerge your earplugs is helpful if you’re planning to clean multiple pairs of alpine earplugs at once, but making it glass by glass or day by day is fine too.
- Once the solution has been mixed, submerge the amazing earplug in it for 10-15 minutes. So that it can loosen up any grease or wax buildup that may be on your earplug shells at this point in time.
- After 10-15 minutes have passed, take the alpine earplugs out and use something like a cleaning cloth or q-tip to dry off any excess moisture from the outside of your custom-molded earplugs before putting them back in again!
Conclusion
There you have it! Cleaning your reusable earplugs is an easy, simple process that just takes a few minutes. Using the correct cleaning method is important so that you can be sure they’re completely sanitary and ready to use again the next time they’re needed. Now you know how to clean earplugs!
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