We finally cleaned our nasty AirPods. These 2 AirPods cleaning kits did it best

The best AirPods cleaning kits we tested

Best AirPods cleaning kit

Hagibis Cleaning Pen for AirPods

Best premium AirPods cleaning kit

KeyBudz Air Care 2.0 AirPods Cleaning Kit

I didn’t realize how badly I needed an Apple AirPods cleaning kit until I swallowed my pride and actually looked closely at my earbuds to see how much earwax they had accumulated. The results were not pretty, but cleanliness and hygiene are not the only reasons you should be cleaning your AirPods. I’ve often wasted time and energy to get the metallic tips at the bottom of my AirPods Pro 1 and 2 to properly charge, when I could have just used one of these cleaning kits.

This is why I asked my colleagues to bring their AirPods into the office, so we could see how three popular Apple AirPods cleaning kits work on headphones that we’ve relied upon and rarely (if ever) cleaned. The good news is that only one kit frustrated us, and the most affordable option actually won us over.

Hagibis Cleaning Pen for AirPods

This pen-shaped multitool provides soft and hard brushes, as well as a metallic tip for hard-to-remove gunk.

KeyBudz Air Care 2.0 AirPods Cleaning Kit

This higher-end kit packs nearly every sort of cleaning tool you could ask for, plus an organizing case so you never lose track.

Best AirPods cleaning kit: Hagibis Cleaning Pen for AirPods

I didn’t have high expectations for this cleaning pen, but it impressed me by offering a lot of what you’d want in an AirPods cleaning kit at a much lower price than its competitors. It’s almost like a power tool in how you move the two sets of interchangeable heads in and out of a pen-shaped chamber.

In our testing, the Hagibis Cleaning Pen worked well to get our AirPods look closer to new than ever, and using it was simple and self-explanatory. As we switched the pen’s various tips around, its stiff brushes and metallic tip proved strong at removing hard-to-nudge earwax, and the softer brush and elongated case-cleaning swab were also good at cleaning the depths of the inside of the case. If you’ve never had trouble getting your AirPods to actually connect to the charging prongs, start cleaning this area now to avoid it ever happening.

On the downside, the Hagibis Cleaning Pen’s stiffer bristle-brush tips feel a little like an afterthought. Not only did one of these brushes bend a little too easily (we bent it back and have had no problems since), but this pair of tips is also easy to lose because it doesn’t fit anywhere inside the main cleaning pen. Also, this pen doesn’t come with any instructions, so you have to poke around on the company’s website to find any visual guides on how to use it.

Still, for someone looking for a basic tool for cleaning any generation of Apple AirPods, this kit will serve them well. You might want to hold on to its packaging, though, to make sure you have somewhere to keep the stiff bristles heads.

Best premium AirPods cleaning kit: KeyBudz Air Care 2.0

Now that you’ve spent a pretty stack of pennies on the best AirPods for your needs, it’s time to keep them clean with the ultimate AirPods cleaning kit. The KeyBudz Air Care 2.0 is a double-sided tool that comes with five interchangeable heads for one side and acleaning swab for the hard-to-reach AirPod slots in the charging case that is housed under the tool’s removable cap.

This might seem like overkill, but the flat and pointed brush tips were great for knocking bits of debris out of the speaker grills while the metallic tip worked like a charm when it came to dislodging stickier earwax. We also appreciated how you get a rubbery flat-tip head for unclogging ports without risk of damaging anything. KeyBudz even includes a pack of sticky tack-like StickySquares, which are basically the in-case-of-emergency measure for removing difficult-to-tackle gunk with a light amount of pressure. For those who are curious, these sticky squares didn’t damage our headphones during our testing.

The only real flaw here, outside of the lack of a liquid cleaning solution like what Belkin includes, is that this kit costs more than 2.5 times the price of the Hagibis pen. That said, I think the Air Care 2.0’s got three strong reasons to merit that price. Its larger cleaning tips make it easier to use than the Belkin, its carrying case helps ensure you won’t lose anything and you get to use each cleaning tool as a tip of a pen, avoiding the weird side-mounted brush in the Hagibis. On top of it all, the Air Care 2.0 comes with a microfiber pouch to help keep things from falling out if you drop the case. Its manual also includes a QR code to a YouTube tutorial that makes it really easy for you to see how to clean AirPods yourself. By comparison, Belkin and Hagibis also have similar videos, but they’re a little harder to find.

Other AirPods cleaning kits we tested

Belkin Cleaning Kit for AirPods

This is the cleaning kit for those with a lot of stubborn buildup that needs a little extra cleaning power to remove. It's also the sole kit we tested that includes liquid cleaning solutions.

While the Belkin Cleaning Kit for AirPods is the only kit that Apple actually includes in its official AirPods cleaning instructions, it was a bit too frustrating and complicated to recommend to most people. The kit calls for dabbing its tiny brushlike tool and your AirPods with a drop or two of a liquid solution, cleaning and then polishing, and then repeating those last steps three times before doing the same with a second liquid solution. Our editors’ earbuds bore plenty of earwax but none needed this liquid-based cleaning solution when the more affordable Hagibis’ kit’s tools did the trick. I also preferred the range of tools in the Hagibis kit, rather than just the very small dot on the tip of Belkin’s included tool. If your AirPods are caked with a thick substance such as food, this kit might be useful because it’s the only kit with liquid cleaning solutions, but it seems like overkill for most people.

We also know that many might not feel comfortable using a cleaning liquid on their Apple products, especially since water ingress is one of the common problems that breaks gear and isn’t covered by warranties. You also need to pay close attention when using this kit, as the fine print below the final step suggests letting your AirPods dry for 120 minutes before using them for “best results.” One YouTube commenter said that an Apple store employee recommended this kit and said that while it “works fine,” you need to strictly follow that 120-minute rule, which includes not charging them during that time. That may explain an issue we had with our AirPods Pro 3 in which the right earbud stopped playing audio and then emitted a high-pitched sound for a short period after we cleaned it. The earbud eventually started working properly again but know that you should take that recommendation seriously.

We’d recommend holding on to the Belkin cleaning kit’s packaging for storage, as the small stylus, solutions and cleaning cloth are all so small they seem destined to get lost and separated. So, while we appreciate how recyclable Belkin’s paper packaging is, it doesn’t hold a candle to how Keybudz’ tools come in a case that helps you store it all.

How we tested

Ease of use

• Cleaning our own AirPods: CNN Underscored social lead Hannah Lauson and I went hands-on with the three AirPods cleaning kits, as we used them to spruce up pairs of AirPods Pro 1, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3.
• Instructions and process: Throughout the cleaning process, we compared notes on how easy it was to use each kit and what instructions each kit provided. We also looked online to each manufacturer’s site if its products didn’t come with complete instructions.

Design and features

• Included tools: A true AirPods cleaning kit should come with brushes and tools of varying softness and firmness, to help remove both fine and difficult grime. While the AirPods themselves might seem like the only part you need to clean, the inside of the case itself may require care as well. Apple advises you to clean your AirPods case with a “clean, dry, soft-bristled brush,” so anyone who’s thought that a cotton swab is enough should rethink that idea.
• Storage: We at CNN Underscored do not like it when any product seems destined to be lost or turned into waste, so we like that some AirPods cleaning kits come with a case to help organize their many parts. Those that require you to hold on to their packaging (which you might damage when opening them) don’t get as many points.

How to choose the best AirPods cleaning kit

What model you’re cleaning

If you’re cleaning regular AirPods or AirPods Pro, you’ll want to buy one of the above cleaning kits. We recommend skipping the Belkin AirPods Cleaning Kit unless you have the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 3, AirPods 4 or AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, as it’s specifically designed for those models.

Also, do not buy these kits to clean the AirPods Max or AirPods Max 2. For AirPods Max, Apple has full instructions and suggests using a dry, lint-free cloth and a mix of 1 teaspoon of liquid laundry detergent and one cup of water. In other words, wet wipes do not apply here.

What you are trying to remove

If you’re focused on earwax cleaning, detritus from your pockets or bag, or cleaning the inside of your charging case, the KeyBudz Air Care 2.0 or the Hagibis Cleaning Pen for AirPods is your best bet. Consider the Belkin AirPods Cleaning Kit if you’re trying to remove stickier, sludgier materials from your AirPods’ microphones and speakers.

FAQs

Can an AirPods cleaning kit clean out earwax?

An AirPods cleaning kit can clean out earwax, and we recommend the cleaning kits with stiff cleaning brushes and metallic tips for removing that gunk.

Which type of AirPods are the hardest to clean?

AirPods Max are the hardest AirPods to clean because they don’t have the same problems as in-ear AirPods. While you can clean their headbands, that part can also decay or erode, and their interchangeable cups retain a hard-to-remove smell.

What items should an AirPods cleaning kit include?

An AirPods cleaning kit should have a tool for removing earwax or dust, at the very least. We also advise you to get a cleaning kit that comes with a soft-bristled brush for cleaning an AirPods charging case.

Why trust CNN Underscored

CNN Underscored editors and writers ensure every product included in an article is thoroughly vetted and something we ourselves would feel comfortable buying and using. Our team has many decades of collective experience researching, testing and recommending products across every category — from fashion and food, to home goods and health, to electronics and everything in between — and we’re committed to using that expertise to help you make the most of your money and live a better life.

For this article, CNN Underscored tech writer Henry T. Casey procured multiple pairs of his coworkers’ in-ear AirPods that needed a cleaning and worked with CNN Underscored social lead Hannah Lauson to remove any gunk with each of the cleaning kits. Casey has worn AirPods so much that a hearing specialist who cleaned earwax out of his ears once suggested he wear them less often. He’s been obsessed with headphones since before they were considered tech products, and he’s spent the last 11 years writing product reviews and testing all sorts of headphones and earbuds.

Some information for this report was gathered via edition.cnn.com.