I Washed My iPhone Earbuds! Bugger it…

During the weekend when I wanted to go for a walk, I couldn’t find my iPhone earbuds. After searching for a few minutes I remembered that I stored them in my pants as I walked up the stairs, coming home from my last walk. Where were those pants now? In the washing machine!

Not much to do… the earbuds were already half-way through their washing cycle so I figured I might as well let it finish, spin and whatever it does to clean things clothes.

Always carry extra of what you don’t want to be without – so I had a few extra earbuds around, 3 pairs, actually. On the picture below you’ll see:

  • Left: Standard 1st generation iPhone earbuds – or maybe from an iPod. I’m not sure.
  • Middle: The new (rather expensive) in-ear iPhone Earbuds. I don’t use those for walking as I wouldn’t be able to hear enough of the traffic around me – and believe me, when walking on this Island, you want to pay attention to traffic!
  • Right: Standard iPhone earbuds with the button on the cord (like the one I washed).

As you can see, no biggie. I was covered in ‘buds.

I decided to hang the washed earbuds up to dry and apply some voodoo and magic spells. Two days later I tested them with an older music device and they played just fine. The play/pause/next/prev button on the cord works too. I can’t really hear any difference in audio quality, so I guess they were not harmed by being washed.

There – now you know, next time you wash your earbuds, don’t worry – they might still work when they get out.

14 thoughts on “I Washed My iPhone Earbuds! Bugger it…”

  1. lol..this reminds me of the time when I accidentally put my Ericsson T610 phone on the washing machine + drier

    Amazingly it still worked after I dried it up the next day
    .-= Michael Aulia´s last blog ..Backing up with HP Simple Save =-.

    Reply
    • Oh yes, the T-six-ten… what a great phone back then, along with the T630. Slow as hell, but a great phone 🙂
      .-= Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..iPhone iPod Bug & How To Fall Asleep Fast And Efficient With Megan Fox =-.

      Reply
  2. If anything I would have thought that after washing all the wax out of the buds the sound quality would have had a remarkable improvement. 😀

    Anyway, I’m glad they still work, I would have hated to think you may have been down a set of plugs 😉
    .-= Sire´s last blog ..Keyword Abusers Force Comment Policy Change =-.

    Reply
    • Had it been any other kind of ear buds, I’m sure they would have improved, now with all the wax out of the way 😀 But the standard iPhone ear buds are not the top of the line, so…

      Reply
      • Yeah, that’s pretty well the same with anything you buy these days. They give you the minimum required just to keep the price down. I actually bought a really great set for my iPod Touch, which enables me to use it as a phone with the aid of the Skype ap.
        .-= Sire´s last blog ..Keyword Abusers Force Comment Policy Change =-.

        Reply
        • That sounds like a nice piece of technology, that iPod set!
          .-= Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..iPhone Free Week: Introduction To A Week With HTC Tattoo (Android) =-.

          Reply
  3. I accidentally washed and machine dried a Razr – but luckily it was off while it was wet. A few days of drying and it worked good as new. It does have that tell-tale red dot inside the case so the dealer would know it had gotten wet before, but yep – it did! Lately I got a fob for a Camry soaking wet in an unexpected downpour, and it would no longer work. Once again – removed the battery, waited a few days, and good as new. Now I’m wondering what else I can wash – Tivo? laptop?
    .-= Christie´s last blog ..Holidays and the introvert =-.

    Reply
    • How about washing your Sony XR500V camcorder while it’s recording in slowmotion? Imagine, 100k+ views on YouTube in double time! 😀

      Reply
      • Ooooh.. now that would be one expensive video to make! 😀 If I ever win the lottery, that will be one of the first things I do.
        .-= Christie´s last blog ..Quiet! Trying to think here! =-.

        Reply
  4. Pingback: Anon ymous
  5. Pingback: Guinea Pigz
  6. Pingback: Ana Gonçalves
  7. Dear Klaus,
    It goes to show that nothing is as we expect it to be, and that technology does really survive a “good wash out”. 🙂 heehee.
    .-= Ana´s last blog ..Human Reminder =-.

    Reply
    • Luckily, this piece of technology survived, yes 😀
      .-= Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..iPhone Free Week: Introduction To A Week With HTC Tattoo (Android) =-.

      Reply

Leave a Comment