You probably have already realized that you should be cleaning your headphones on occasion. For your AirPods Pro, you likely treat them like any other headphone. Take a tissue or paper towel, get some rubbing alcohol on it, and rub it down. But if you’re using AirPods Pro, you should take that a step further. The AirPods Pro have a bit of a design flaw, where the charging portion of the headphones is at the bottom of the stem. This means they’re deep down in the case. These contacts can transfer dirt, oils, earwax, dust, and anything else down to the bottom of your AirPods Pro case. There, it’ll get trapped, making it more difficult to reliably charge your AirPods. You may even find they randomly drain throughout the day, leaving you without your headphones when you need to go out. I had tried cleaning them before, without much luck, but, as it turns out, a truly thorough clean can buy you about a week without any connection issues, and months without repeated or serious issues. So here’s how to get it done.
The Cleaning Steps
You’ll want to tackle more than just earwax. Start out by wiping down the inside of the case with a tissue and some rubbing alcohol, getting all of the surface areas. You can also use simple hand wipes or electronics cleaner as well. If you’re looking to buy rubbing alcohol, 99% alcohol rubbing alcohol is best for cleaning electronics, though it’ll burn your cuts more than you’d like, could dry them out, and may actually evaporate too quickly. Stick to 70% for your cuts.You can use 70% on your AirPods Pro, just know that it’s cut with water, so there could be an increased risk of damage if you use too much or just get unlucky.
After wiping down the top area and your headphones themselves, it’s time to focus on that pesky disconnection issue. This involves cleaning the wells in the case where the AirPods’ stems go. I like to start with a silicone swab, which I put some rubbing alcohol on. This can get up larger pieces of dust, and also rub the contacts clean without leaving anything behind. You can follow up in a few ways. A normal cotton swab, a pipe cleaner, or, what I did, a bit of tissue wrapped around the end of my silicone swab. Then add a bit of rubbing alcohol, and clean out the area. Finally, use a dry tool to scrub one last time, getting deep into the holes in the case for your AirPods Pro stems. You’ll want to make sure you leave nothing behind, alcohol or dust.
Now, let it dry. Alcohol dries quickly, but you still don’t want to use these while it’s wet. Once it’s dry, you’re ready to put your headphones back in.
In my case, this was enough to keep my AirPods Pro without any charging issues for a few weeks. I did have one disconnect in the first week, but now, two weeks in, I’ve only had two instances of charging issues. Before, it would be a few times a day.
Most manufacturers have put the charging contacts on the headphones themselves, making it easy to clean the contacts. Apple didn’t do this. It’s unlikely they’ll change their ways, so, if you have AirPods Pro, get used to giving them a good deep (literally) cleaning every month. It’s worth the frustration and time to get those contacts clean so your AirPods Pro are almost always ready when you want them.