How to maintain your headset

Maintaining good headset hygiene practices and protecting your telephone headset whilst travelling or storing helps to keep it in good working order and protects you, the wearer, from bacteria, infections or breakages.

Keeping your headset clean

In a study conducted by the University of Arizona, a typical telephone has up to 25,127 germs per square inch. The study also declares that an average telephone has 500 times more bacteria than an average toilet seat. These germs and bacteria include:

• Salmonella
• E. coli
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Streptococcus

All of these bacteria are potentially dangerous and infectious and are the ones that are found on-ear cushions. Keeping your headset clean can be quick and easy to do. At JPL we recommend the following for cleaning your wired headset, for other brands please seek out their recommended cleaning advice.

You will need:

• A small microfiber cloth
• Cotton buds
• A mild washing up liquid mixed into warm water – not too foamy

1. Unplug the headset from your telephone or computer.
2. Remove the ear cushions carefully from the headset.
3. Dip the cloth in the soapy water solution, and wring out as much moisture as possible. You don’t want to damage or drip water into the headset.
4. Wipe away any grime on your headset by working in gentle circles. (With Element modules you can remove the boom module to clean the headband separately) You can also use a cotton bud to reach smaller hard to reach sections of the headset.
5. For leatherette ear cushions these can be wiped with soapy water and left to dry. If the ear cushions are a foam material these can be soaked in the water completely then left to dry. We recommend that all ear cushions be replaced every 6 months.
6. Let the headset and ear cushions dry completely before reassembling them for use. This is to prevent damage to the headset or induce shocks when introducing water to the electrical components. You can help speed up the drying by wiping the headset with a dry microfiber cloth.

We recommend that users make it a habit to wipe down headsets with a non-alcoholic disinfectant cloth once a day after use to help prevent the build-up of bacteria and deep clean the headset using the above instructions at least once a month to reduce the risk of bacteria. We also recommend that all users should have their own personal headset which is not shared with others, however if unavoidable then each user must be given their own ear cushions and windshields.

The above tips can be followed for safe and efficient long-term headset hygiene. They will help you in creating a safer environment for yourself and your employees.

Protecting your headset

Cleaning the headset is not the only way to look after your headset. With hybrid working on the rise, protecting your headset in transit to avoid breakages is also important. At JPL we offer 2 types of travel cases for our headsets.

JPL’s tough case has a hard outer shell to protect the headset from other items in your bag and help prevent water damage from leaking bottles. It also has a soft inner lining with a mesh pocket to keep additional cables and other accessories required for your headset.

JPL also has a soft-shell case that helps to prevent water damage and is ideal to store and protect your headset.

Overall protecting, cleaning, and maintaining your headsets is vital for your health and prolongs the life of your headset.