Long term headphone cleaning and maintenance

What do you do to keep your headphone in tip top shape?

I have a sizeable collection of headphones so i dont wear out most of them that fast but as i spend longer and longer in the hobby - maintenance is becoming more of a thing.

Normally i give a few spritz with some 70% alcohol with a through rubdown with a microfiber cloth. but ive decided to add a yearly routine

  • Leather - (mostly the headbands), some leather cleaning cleaner/conditioner
  • Metal - a light rubdown with a microfiber cloth with a little bit of WD40

i though at first that just the alcohol alone would be enough but i recently noted this nastiness on my Meze 99 that could not be cleaned with water/alcohol regardless how much you scrub (after a good cleaning with leather cleaner it all came out)

Still looking for a good wood and fabric cleaner/conditioner (the regulars ones ive come across have a smell which i really dont like)

I haven’t really had anything long enough to get bad but usually just a Q-tip with some rubbing alcohol works well enough maybe a lint roller if I’m cleaning some pads

Careful with WD40, its function is not as a preservative, if you’re looking to protect metal components from oxidation, fingerprints, rust, etc, try a silicon gun/reel cloth, museum wax, and of course not on the electrical components! WD40 will give some metals your fingerprints permanently, don’t ask me how I found that out when I was very young, just throwing it out there, fyi

Great to know - thanks for the tip will switch over

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