So a couple of months ago I bought myself an Urbanears Plattan. My mobile phone functions more like a music player to me and when I switched to a different model and realized that the sound quality and setting is not as awesome as my previous one, I knew I had to dump the earphones that came with it and switch to a headphone. At P2,950 ($79.90 in their website) it’s good enough. It’s stylish and the sound quality is some notches above the average. But since it’s covered in fabric, it is of course likely to get dirty with dust much like our backpacks. Today I emailed customer support and asked how to properly clean my headphone, I own the grey one, and below are her instructions.

Washing Instruction

After months of wear and tear your headphones can get a little bit dirty but fear not, there are actually ways to freshen them up. One should add that doing this is at your own risk and warranty will not apply to water damage.

There are four different parts that can cleaned: plastic parts such as the side of the earcap on Plattan, the fabric cables, the rubber cables and the fabric headband. We’ll go through each of these parts below.

Fabric cable

Things you’ll need:

• A sink, a large bowl or basin.
• A mild laundry soap made specifically for delicates or detergents made for babies garments.
• A soft fabric cloth.

1. Fill the sink with cold water and add a small amount of laundry soap.
2. Gently submerge the cable in the water but make sure to leave the plug, microphone and headphone (of course) completely dry.
3. Once the cable is soaked take the cloth and gently rub together the fabric cable and the cloth. Work the soapy water into the fabric fibers.
4. Drain the sink, and refill with cold water. Let the fabric cable sit in the rinse water for a bit, swishing them around to get the laundry soap out.
5. Drain the water and rinse it carefully beneath cold running water.
6. Lay the cable out flat to dry.

Rubber cable

Things you’ll need:

• 85% alcohol
• A soft fabric cloth.

1. Carefully soak the cloth in the 85% alcohol. Make sure no to use too much so that you risk getting alcohol on the microphone, on the plug or on the Y-connector.
2. Stroke the cloth up and down along the cable. Do not rub it too hard.
3. If there are stains that are harder to remove please pay extra attention to those parts and go over them two times.
4. Let the cable dry.

Fabric headband

Things you’ll need:

• A sink, a large bowl or basin.
• A mild laundry soap made specifically for delicates or something like a detergents made for babies garments.
• A soft fabric cloth.

1. Fill the sink with cold water and add a small amount of laundry soap.
2. Gently soak the headband in the water and pay extra attention not to get the hinges wet (or any other part).
3. Once the headband is soaked take the cloth and gently rub together the fabric and the cloth. Work the soapy water into the fabric fibers.
4. Drain the sink, and refill with cold water. Slowly sink the headband in the cold water, swishing it around a little to get the laundry soap out.
5. Drain the water and rinse it very carefully beneath cold running water.
6. Hang the headphone to dry with the ear caps up and headband down so no water gets into the hinges.

Plastic parts

Things you’ll need:

• Lukewarm water.
• A soft fabric cloth.

1. Wet down the cloth.
2. Make sure there is no redundant water in the cloth.
3. Gently wipe the dirty parts clean. Make sure no water finds it way in between the different parts.
4. Let it dry.

If you have stains that cannot be removed using this technique please do not try to use alcohol or other strong detergents! The plastic parts are coated and if you use anything but a water wet cloth you might destroy the surface. Something that will not be covered by warranty.

Please follow these instructions carefully and exactly, I want to highlight one of his first comments: “doing this is at your own risk and warranty will not apply to water damage”

Needless to say, one has to be careful in washing the headphones. But if you’re looking into buying a new one, Urbanears got a model with detachable fabric covers that are perfectly washable, the Humlan. You might want to check it out. -aB