Essential Guide: How to Effectively Clean Your Headset at Home

The truth is, headsets can get dirty, and when they do, it’s a good idea to do a little cleaning maintenance in order to refresh your headset.

Sometimes it’s not always obvious that a headset needs to be cleaned simply due to the fact that when a headset is used, it’s not visibly in sight. And, when it’s not used, it’s put away and again, not the focus of your attention. 

But, when you stop to pay some special attention to it, that’s when it becomes clear that a headset scrubbing is in order. 

Anyone who’s used a headset, especially for months, and years, knows what I’m referring to here. 

• Ear cushions can get dirty, and even have material breakdowns over time 
• Microphones can get clogged up with fragments from that lunch you just finished
• Headbands can need a freshening up too as they come in contact with hair that may be treated with gels and other hair care products. 
• If your headset has a microphone windscreen, that too is a repository for saliva, and food particles 
• The plastic speaker housing is often designed with numerous crevices that are perfect hiding places for earwax and other ear related discharges. 

Have I grossed you out yet? If so, that really wasn’t my intention. I was more interested in pointing out what areas on a headset tend to be more problematic when it comes to collecting debris and germs. 

It’s a great idea to periodically clean your headset. Not only will you remove unwanted particles of earwax, saliva, bacteria and your favorite hair care products from your headset, but you’ll be healthier and happier too.

Healthier because you’ll be ridding your headset of these nasty things, and happier because you’ll know that those nasty things are a thing of the past. That is, until your next headset cleaning is needed. 

So what’s a good way to clean a headset?

So glad you asked, because I have some tips for you that I’ll share in this blog. But, before I do, I did want to let you know that we recorded a Youtube video on this very subject. So, if you’d rather watch a video instead of reading this blog, I won’t take offense 😄

If you’re still reading this blog, then come along as I discuss some of the details on the best way to clean your headset. 

Tooling up 

To begin, I’d like to suggest a few things to have on hand before you start freshening up your trusted headset. Here’s a list of things you should consider having on hand before you dive into your cleaning project: 

1. Gloves 
2. An old toothbrush or something similar 
3. A pick of some sort for getting stubborn particles off of your headset. This can be a toothpick, pin or something with a point. 
4. Rubbing Alcohol, or wipes that are acceptable for use on electronics 5. Replacement ear cushions 
5. Replacement microphone windscreen, if your headset uses one 7. A clean microfiber cloth 

This may seem like overkill when it comes to those things to have on hand to simply clean a headset. But hey, we’re wanting to refresh that headset, so let’s throw everything we have at it, right?

If clean is what you seek, then having the necessary tools on hand to get the job done makes sense. 

Cleaning your headset 

Now that you have your implements on hand, what’s the best way to get the job done? Here’s what we do at Headset Advisor, which hopefully can be of value to you when you’re wanting to get your headset freshened up. 

1. Remove any current foam earpads and microphone windscreens.
2. With rubbing alcohol, or cleaning wipe, wipe down the entire headset including the cable (if your headset is a wired model), microphone, microphone boom arm, headband, side stabilizer pad (for mono headsets) etc.
3. Take your toothbrush, or equivalent, and thoroughly brush down your headset by brushing in a circular motion. Give special attention to any crevices where particles can accumulate. 
4. Use the pick to remove any stubborn particles that commonly accumulate in cracks, crevices etc. 
5. Use rubbing alcohol to help loosen up stubborn particles. 
6. Wipe down the entire headset a second time with a cleaning wipe
7. Replace any foam ear cushions and microphone windscreens as needed.
8.  Unlike foam, leather ear cushions can be cleaned and not replaced if they’re in good condition. 

If you follow this general guideline to clean your headset, you should come away confident that your headset is vastly cleaner, and you will have minimized the risk of exposing yourself to unwanted bacteria.

Peace of mind comes at a price, and this is a small price to pay for it. So gather up your cleaning tools noted here, and get cracking on getting your headset refreshed. The world is watching. 

Free offer 

Do you have 10 or more headsets in your office? If so, how would you like us to send you a box of 50 Headset Advisor cleaning wipes for free? That’s right, free, as in free, free, free. We’ll even cover the shipping because that’s free too. 

What’s the catch you ask? As with any free offer, there’s always one, right? Ok, here’s our catch. We send you the free wipes, and you think good thoughts about Headset Advisor.

Heck, maybe you even subscribe to our Youtube channel as a way of saying thanks. Or, maybe you write us a Google review where you say how wonderful we are. Or, you just accept this as a free gift and do nothing more. It’s all good. 

Claim your box of 50 FREE Headset Advisor cleaning wipes here

Speeding because there’s no time to waste when there are dirty headsets to clean. No catch, no gimmick, just free wipes compliments of Headset Advisor, your trusted source for headsets and technology products since 1994. 

Have questions? 

If you have questions, or would like further information, don’t hesitate to contact us at Headset Advisor. We’re here to help, and help is just an email, live chat or phone call away.