You’ve had a lovely weekend. Walked the dog on Saturday, mowed the lawn in the sunshine on Sunday, family round for tea in the evening. Then Monday morning you put your hearing aids in, and one of them sounds muffled. The other one keeps cutting out. You panic slightly, wonder how much this is going to cost, and start looking for the receipt for the warranty.

It happens all the time. About eight times out of ten, when a patient brings a hearing aid in that has “stopped working”, the fix is a proper clean. Wax has built up on the receiver. Moisture from a sweaty gardening session has got into the housing. The wax guard is clogged. The aid isn’t broken. It’s just tired and dirty.

The good news is that with a proper cleaning routine, most of these problems don’t happen in the first place. Here are six habits we teach every new hearing aid patient in our clinics, all in one place.

1. The daily wipe-down

Every night, before you put your hearing aids in their charger or their case, give them a proper wipe with a soft dry cloth. A microfibre cloth is ideal. You’re not trying to clean anything difficult here, you’re just taking off the day’s build-up of skin oils, dust and moisture.

Do not use water. Do not use alcohol wipes or antibacterial spray. Do not use tissue paper (it leaves fibres behind that cause trouble later). A soft dry cloth, ten seconds a side, is all you need.

2. The weekly proper clean

Once a week, do a slightly deeper clean. Use the small brush that came with your hearing aids to gently sweep around the microphone ports, the receiver, and any little grooves where wax and debris hide. Hold the aid pointing downwards while you do this so anything you dislodge falls out rather than in.

If you’ve got the little wax pick tool, use it carefully around the receiver (the small opening at the end that goes into your ear). Wax on the receiver is the single biggest cause of muffled sound.

3. Change the wax guard when the sound goes off

Wax guards are the tiny white filters at the end of your hearing aid receiver. They stop wax getting into the electronics. They also get clogged every few weeks, at which point the sound goes muffled or drops out completely.

Most patients need to change theirs every two to four weeks. If your hearing aid suddenly sounds weaker or muffled, changing the wax guard is the first thing to try. Your hearing aid came with a little tool for this and a pack of spares. If you’ve run out, we sell them in clinic (or drop in and we’ll pop a new one on for you if you’re a patient).

4. Use a drying pot every night

Heat and humidity are the two biggest enemies of hearing aid electronics. Every day, whether you notice it or not, moisture is building up inside your aids from sweat, humid air, and the natural environment of your ear canal.

An electric drying pot (about £30 online) is the single best investment a hearing aid wearer can make. Pop your aids in at night, they come out proper dry in the morning, and you’ll get years more life out of them. Silica gel drying capsules are a cheaper option (around £5) if you don’t want to plug something in.

5. Store them properly when you’re not wearing them

If you take your hearing aids out during the day (for a swim, a shower, an afternoon nap), put them in their case straight away. Don’t leave them on the bedside table, on the arm of the sofa, or worst of all in the bathroom.

Bathrooms are murder on hearing aids. All that steam from the shower gets into the electronics. Keep them in a dry bedroom or living room, in their case, and out of reach of the dog (we’ve had to explain more than one chewed-up hearing aid to a patient over the years).

6. Bring them in for a proper service

Even with a great home cleaning routine, your hearing aids benefit from a proper service every three to six months. In clinic we can dry them out deeply, replace domes and wax guards, check the microphone and receiver, and give them a proper deep clean that isn’t quite possible at home.

For our existing patients, cleans and check-ups are free of charge, and you can drop in without an appointment. It takes about 15 minutes and it makes a real difference to how well the aids sound.

A free clean and check for our patients

If you’re a patient of ours at Hearing Aid Solutions and your aids are due a service (or if they’ve been sounding off recently), come in for a free clean and check at any of our four clinics: Carmarthen, Cardiff, Llanelli or Haverfordwest. Family run, 24 years, independent. We’ll get them back to their best.

[Book in or drop by your nearest clinic.]

Frequently asked questions

How often should I change the wax guard?

Most patients need to change theirs every two to four weeks, though it varies with how much ear wax your body produces. If your hearing aid suddenly sounds muffled or weaker than usual, changing the wax guard is the first thing to try before assuming there’s something wrong with the aid itself.

Can I use alcohol wipes or water to clean my hearing aid?

Please don’t. Alcohol and water can both damage the electronics inside. A soft dry cloth for daily cleaning and the small brush for weekly cleaning is all you need. If your hearing aid gets genuinely dirty, bring it into the clinic and we’ll clean it properly for you.

My hearing aid has gone quiet. Is it broken?

Probably not. In about eight out of ten cases, the fix is a clogged wax guard or a bit of wax on the receiver. Try changing the wax guard first, then giving it a proper clean with the brush. If that doesn’t sort it, drop it into clinic and we’ll take a look.

How often should I bring my hearing aids in for a service?

Every three to six months is a good rule of thumb. For our patients this is free and there’s no need to book, you can just drop in. If your aids are getting older, more frequent check-ups are worth it.

What if my hearing aid gets wet?

Take the battery out (if it’s not rechargeable) and put the aid straight into a drying pot or a bag of silica gel capsules overnight. Do not use rice, and do not try to dry it with a hairdryer. If it still isn’t working the next morning, bring it in and we’ll take a proper look.

Do I need a special cleaning kit?

Not really. Your hearing aid came with a small brush, a wax pick tool and a supply of wax guards, which cover everything you need for daily and weekly cleaning. A drying pot is the one useful add-on, and we can point you at a good one at your next appointment.