How to Clean Hearing Aids + Hearing Aid Care Tips

If you’d like to learn more, click here for our short YouTube video!

Do You Need to Clean Your Hearing Aids?

The short answer is yes! Regularly cleaning your hearing aids will help improve the sound experience of your technology.

Dirt, debris, earwax, and other buildup can make its way into the domes of your hearing aids, block the microphone, and degrade the intended sound quality of your devices.

Regular at-home cleaning, and periodic professional cleaning of your hearing aids will go a long way in improving your technology’s performance, and in many instances, will help prolong the life of your hearing aids.

Not sure about the right way to clean your technology? Hearing Solution Centers is here to help!

How to Clean Your Hearing Aids at Home

Cleaning your hearing aids at home can be a very simple process. With the use of a standard hearing aid cleaning kit, here’s how we recommend you keep your technology clean and your hearing at its best.

Step 1: Remove the Dirty Domes from your Hearing Aids

The most common hearing aid styles — like Behind-the-Ear and Receiver-in-the-Ear hearing aids — feature silicone domes that are placed into the ear in order to receive the sounds picked up by your hearing aids’ microphones.

The first step in cleaning your hearing aids is to remove these silicone domes. Carefully hold the tubes of your hearing aid in one hand while pulling the dome from where it connects to the tube. If the dome tears, don’t panic! The domes are an inexpensive, replaceable part of your technology, and if they do tear, it’s a sign that they’re old and in need of replacement.

Step 2: Clean the Hearing Aid Domes

Use a gentle cloth, like those you would use to clean eyeglasses, and thoroughly wipe down the domes. Then, using a brush from your hearing aid cleaning kit to remove any debris that may be trapped inside the dome. (We like to use the metal loop end!)

Then, give the dome another wipedown to remove any additional matter that’s accumulated during the cleaning process.

Step 3: Wipe Off the Entire Device

Using the same gentle cloth that you used to clean your dome, carefully wipe the entire device, including the tubing (or wires, depending on the type of device you wear) and the hearing aid shell.

Many hearing aids have nooks and crannies where debris can get trapped, so use your hearing aid cleaning brush to root out any oils or earwax on your technology. Pay special attention to your hearing aids’ microphones, so that you are able to thoroughly remove any buildup while not causing damage to these critical components.

Our favorite way to clean a hearing aid microphone? A soft bristled toothbrush! This helps get a thorough, gentle cleaning of these important areas of your technology. Take note that hearing aids often have more than one microphone opening, so be sure to clean every one.

Note: Do not use the metal loop on your hearing aid microphones! This can cause unintended damage to your technology, damage of which is unlikely to be covered by manufacturer warranty.

Step 4: Remove and Replace the Wax Filters

Pull out a new filter stick from your hearing aid cleaning kit and connect the empty side to the old filter already in your hearing aid. Carefully remove the old wax filter.

Now, after you’ve removed the old filter, place the new filter from the filter stick into your device.

Removing and replacing your wax filters can be a little tricky, especially for those of us with dexterity issues. Be patient, ask a loved one for help, and if you’re still having trouble with this part, we’ll be happy to give you a hand!

Step 5: Replace Your Domes (If Necessary)

Now, if you ripped your domes, have very old domes, or have domes that are too difficult to clean, then it’s time to replace them.

This is another part of the cleaning process that can be difficult for those of us with dexterity issues. One way that we’ve found to make this part of the cleaning process easier, is by carefully turning the dome inside out so that the end that connects to your hearing aids’ tubing (or wires) is more visible, and easier to hold onto.

This will make it much easier to connect to the device. Pull on it gently to ensure that it fits snugly onto the wire. Then, make sure to turn the dome right side out so that it will fit comfortably in your ear and won’t fall off during wear.

And that’s pretty much it! We also recommend having your devices periodically cleaned by your provider — about twice a year for best results.

If you’d like to learn more about the best way to clean and maintain your devices, or would like to schedule a hearing aid cleaning with us, please contact our practice today to speak with our team. We’d love to see you!