Did you know your headphones need cleaning?

A man listens to music on his headphones. [Getty Images]

Whether it’s enjoying a podcast, listening to music or chatting on the phone, many of us spend hours a day using our headphones. One 2017 study of 4,185 Australians showed they used headphones on average 47–88 hours a month.

Health advice about headphones tends to focus on how loud sounds might affect our hearing. For example, to avoid hearing loss, the World Health Organisation advises people to keep the volume below 60 per cent of their device’s maximum and to use devices that monitor sound exposure and limit volume.