How to Clean iPhone Speaker – 5 Easy Ways
It’s safe to say that your iPhone speaker grills are one of the most common places to accumulate dirt and debris over time. Because we use our phones regularly and handle them in all places, they’re already covered with unseen bacteria. Among all that, speaker grills, microphones, and headphone holes are essentially inviting places for dust buildup. So, to use it consistently and without disruptions in auditory experience, you should know how to clean iPhone speaker properly.
We say properly because cleaning speakers on iPhone dev is a tricky job and requires extra care. One wrong move and you may damage the speakers for good. So how to clean speaker on iPhone carefully without breaking it? Let’s check out some of the best techniques.
How to Clean iPhone Speaker | 5 Best Ways
When it’s about how to clean iPhone speaker holes, the most common ways include using a soft brush, toothpicks, etc. But there are other effective methods as well. For instance, masking tape and cotton ear sticks are also useful in cleaning out speakers on iPhone. Whichever the method is, however, it’s important to be careful while cleaning speakers on any phone. They’re obviously sensitive and can easily be damaged, especially since we need to go somewhat inside to clean them.
Related: How to Clean iPhone Charging Port with Toothbrush or Toothpick
Therefore, to learn how to clean your speaker on your iPhone, proper guides should be considered beforehand. Cleaning up the speakers makes your iPhone durable over time and ensures a consistent music experience. It’s also recommended to do this once in a while so that any dust or debris doesn’t get stuck permanently. Without further delay, let’s explore the most effective methods on how to clean iPhone speaker slots.
How to clean iPhone speaker using a soft bristle brush
Soft brushes with pointy heads, these are the magic words for cleaning the speaker grills of any smartphone. Dry debris that easily gets stuck into the speaker and headphone slots can easily be removed with soft bristle brushes.
Related: How to Clean iPhone Camera
For this, you’ll need a narrow brush with relatively small bristles. Make sure the brush head is soft so that it doesn’t damage the inside while cleaning. You can also take a toothbrush with soft bristles as well. Once ready, follow the steps below—
- First, remove your iPhone’s case.
- Hold the iPhone speaker downwards and scrub the speaker grills gently with the brush.
- Carefully try to get the bristles inside and clean out the dirt.
- Similarly, hold the ear speakers downward and apply the brush gently over them.
How to clean iPhone ear speaker with painter’s tape
This is a neat trick to clean the speaker of an iPhone, especially the ear speakers at the top. Painter’s tape is generally used while painting a specific portion of walls or ceilings to prevent the paint from spreading. Therefore, it has an effective adhesive that can take off sticky dust and grime from speaker grills. Masking tape is also effective in cleaning off ear speakers as well, and the process is similar.
Related: 13 Best Bluetooth Microphones for iPhone
- To start, place your phone with the screen facing upwards.
- Take a portion of the painter’s tape and place the sticky side over the ear speaker at the top.
- To clean the main speaker grills located at the bottom of your iPhone, take a short piece of the tape and roll it into a narrow cylinder.
- Then, put it gently into the speaker slots and take it out. The accumulated bits over time should come out.
- If needed, repeat the processes with a newly rolled cylinder every time.
How to clean out speaker on iPhone with toothpick
Toothpicks are common tools for cleaning iPhone speaker holes. By being careful, you can easily pluck out loose dirt and bits out of the speaker’s slots easily. You can do it with either wooden or plastic toothpicks with pointy heads.
- First, take the case off your iPhone.
- Then, hold your iPhone speakers downwards.
- Take a sharp, pointy toothpick and insert the tip carefully with no pressure.
- Then, move the tip inside in a circular motion without giving the least effort. If you feel any obstacles, stop applying it immediately.
- Ensure that while applying, the light pressure goes around and sideways and never towards the phone.
How to easily clean out your iPhone headphone jack with a cotton swab
Like the speakers, your iPhone headphone jack is another common place for dust buildup. Although iPhones no longer come with a headphone jack since iPhone 7, people who use iPhone 6s Plus and its predecessors might have to face this problem. No worries, cotton swabs to the rescue. You can easily clean out headphone slots to ensure better sound quality with a cotton swab; here’s how—
- Take a clean cotton swab and make sure it’s not too thick to get into the headphone jack.
- Hold an end and slowly insert the other end of the cotton swab into the headphone jack.
- Carefully turn the cotton swab inside in a circular motion. Do not press forward while doing it; just keep the light pressure sidewards.
- Do not dampen the cotton with any kind of liquid at all.
- Once done, gently take the cotton swab out of your iPhone headphone jack.
Learn how to get water out of your iPhone speaker
Sure, iPhones are usually waterproof. But let’s be honest, iPhone speakers will not work best if there’s water trapped inside. There are plenty of instances where your iPhone speaker sounds muffled due to catching water through the speakers. Thankfully, the iPhone has a Water Eject system that takes out water inside the speakers by playing high-frequency sounds. To do this, download the shortcut first.
- After downloading the Water Eject shortcut from the link, go to your iPhone Settings.
- Scroll down and go to Shortcuts.
- And select Allow Untrusted Shortcuts.
- After installing the shortcut, search and tap on Water Eject on your iPhone.
- Hold the iPhone speakers downward, and tap on Begin to eject water out of your iPhone.
What not to use when cleaning iPhone speakers
When cleaning your iPhone speakers, always remember to unplug and turn off your iPhone. Apart from that, you should also avoid using liquids, abrasive cleaners, or sharp objects, no matter how convenient they sound. Not complying with these may cause severe damage to the speaker or any other parts of your precious device.
How to Fix Speaker on iPhone
If all of the cleaning methods have not fixed your iPhone speakers, chances are the problem is either too simple or too complicated. For a simple fix, you can tweak the speaker settings of your iPhone.
- For this, simply go to your iPhone Settings.
- Navigate to the Sounds & Haptics menu.
- And check for the optimal settings from there. You can change the volume, customize ringtones, etc.
If you think that my iPhone speaker is still not working, you should see a specialist. Take the iPhone to your nearest Apple Care Center, and they should be able to take care of it.
Wrap up
In this guide on how to clean out iPhone speakers, we’ve discussed some of the most effective DIY methods you can try. Cleaning your iPhone speakers from time to time is a good practice, not to mention how it improves the experience. Follow these simple techniques and ensure a consistent auditory performance of your iPhone.
You might also appreciate our recommendations on how to clean the Apple silicone case for iPhone if you found the tips shared in this post useful.
