How to deal with water damage on your earphones and headphones

What do you do when your headphones or earbuds receive an unintended dunking in water, or perhaps get soaked in the rain because you forgot to take them out of your ears? Depending on the severity of the soaking, there’s an even chance that you can save your headphones. Read on to find out the ways to do just that.

First steps

The moment you realise your headphones or earphones are wet, turn them off (if they can be turned off) and attempt to safely disassemble them. Ear tips and ear cups should be removed, for example. Disconnect any cables if possible, in the case of wired headphones.

Then attempt to dry all the components with a clean rag, preferably a lint-free one. Don’t use tissues as the paper can shred and embed itself in places you wouldn’t want them to be embedded.

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If possible, attempt to shake the headphones vigorously to dislodge any water that made its way inside. You can also try blowing through openings to push water out. Just remember to not blow too hard, or you might cause further damage to the audio driver or mic.

Once this is done, leave the headphones or earphones out to dry in a clean, dry place. Do note that dunking them in rice or subjecting them to heat in an oven or with a hairdryer is a bad idea. Headphones are made of extremely delicate materials, and a lot of the components are held together with glue. Secondly, wireless headphones have batteries, which should not overheat. The heat is likely to cause more damage than the water.

Do nothing… for several days

After this is done, do nothing. Don’t touch the headphones, don’t attempt to turn them on, nothing. Just leave them be for a few days till you’re absolutely sure that they’re dry, and that there’s not a drop of moisture on them or in them.

Reassemble the headphones if you disassembled them. In the case of wireless headphones, check for any bloating or swelling around the battery area. This is usually a clear indicator of a damaged battery, and likely means that your headphones are dead, or worse, are preparing to explode.

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If everything is fine, connect the headphones to an audio source and play some audio, preferably a sound sweep. If all seems fine, put them in your ears to check for quality and functionality. If you’re lucky, you will now have a pair of functional headphones again!

Special cases

If your headphones got soaked in some kind of sugary or salty liquid, it’s most likely dead. This is because salts and sugars can attach themselves to electronic circuits and short them. At this point, we’d recommend trying the above steps anyway, but with one change: give the headphones a proper rinse in clean water – distilled water, not tap water before drying them. If the salts or sugars didn’t already damage the headphones beyond repair, there’s a small chance that your set is recoverable.

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Do note that even though some earphones and headphones have an IP rating for dust and splash resistance, it’s neither guaranteed that your headphones will be safe from water, nor will they be covered under warranty in the case of water damage.