How to Clean and Look After Hearing Aids

A hearing aid spends its working day in a warm, damp, waxy ear canal. For a tiny computer, that’s about the harshest posting there is, and it shows in the repair queue: most hearing aid faults come down to earwax or moisture, not anything actually breaking. Which is oddly good news. Two minutes of care each night, and a few small jobs once a week, prevent nearly all of it.

This guide covers the nightly wipe-down, the weekly jobs like wax guards and domes, what never to use on them, and an honest look at drying boxes, which matter more in a humid Australian summer than the instruction booklet lets on. None of it needs perfect eyesight or steady hands, and where a job is fiddly we’ll say so, because that’s exactly the kind of thing a family member can take over in thirty seconds a week.

Wax and moisture: the two things that do the damage

Earwax is the number one cause of “my hearing aid has stopped working”. It creeps into the speaker outlet a little each day until one morning the aid sounds weak, or dead. Moisture is the slower one: sweat, rain, steam from the shower, and the sticky humidity of an Australian summer all work their way into the electronics and corrode them over months. Neither is a flaw in the aid. Both are just what ears and weather do, and both are managed with a routine so short it barely counts as a chore.

The two-minute nightly routine

Step 1: Wipe them down

When the aids come out at night, wipe each one with a soft, dry cloth or a tissue. That’s it. You’re taking off the day’s skin oils, wax and dampness before they settle in. Do it at the table over a folded towel, not over the bathroom sink, so a dropped aid lands somewhere soft and dry.

Step 2: Brush the openings

Your aids almost certainly came with a small brush. Give the microphone openings and the speaker end a gentle brush, holding the aid upside down so loosened wax falls out rather than in. Lost the brush? A clean, dry, soft toothbrush kept just for this does the same job.

Step 3: Glance at the dome and wax guard

The dome is the soft tip that sits in your ear, and the wax guard is the tiny filter underneath it. A quick look is all this step takes. If the dome is split, discoloured or loose, or the guard looks clogged, that’s a weekend job (below). A loose dome is worth catching early, because one that slips off can stay behind in the ear canal.

Step 4: Sort the battery

If your aids take disposable batteries, open the battery door fully overnight. It lets moisture escape and stops the battery draining. If they’re rechargeable, pop them on the charger. Either way, this is the moment the aids start drying out for tomorrow.

Step 5: Store them somewhere dry

The bedside drawer beats the bathroom shelf every time. Steam from showers is exactly the moisture you’re trying to avoid, and the bathroom is where aids most often get knocked into the sink. If you use a drying tub or box, this is when the aids go in it.

The weekly once-over

Change the wax guard when it needs it

Wax guards come on a small tool with a pin at each end: one end pulls the old guard out, the other pushes the new one in. The whole job takes ten seconds once you’ve done it twice, though it is fiddly the first time, and there’s no shame in making it someone else’s job. Guards are brand-specific. Phonak aids use CeruShield disks, Oticon uses ProWax filters, and so on, so match the packet to your aid. Once a month is the usual rhythm, sooner if sound goes quiet.

Check and replace the domes

Domes slide off the speaker for a wipe and slide back on. Replace them every month or two, or straight away if one is split or has gone stiff, because a worn dome whistles and sits badly. Push the new one on firmly until it clicks or seats fully. Your clinic supplied the right size, so buy that same size when you top up.

Earmoulds are the one part that can meet water

If you wear a behind-the-ear aid with a custom earmould, the mould and its tubing can be detached from the electronics and washed in mild soapy water, then left to air dry completely overnight before going back on. The electronics never get wet, only the detached mould. Not sure yours detaches? Ask at your next clinic visit rather than guessing, and let them show you once.

What never to use on a hearing aid

• Water on anything electronic. Only a detached earmould can be washed.
• Alcohol wipes, methylated spirits or household disinfectant. They attack the casing and coatings. Buy wipes made for hearing aids if you want wipes.
• Glasses-cleaning wipes. The most common mistake we hear about, because they’re always in the same drawer. Most are alcohol-based.
• A hairdryer, oven, heater or sunny windowsill. Heat warps casings and cooks batteries. Drying should be slow and gentle, and a car dashboard in an Australian summer is the fastest way to wreck a pair.
• Hairspray or perfume while wearing them. The mist clogs microphones. Spray first, aids in after.
• Pins or toothpicks in the microphone openings. The brush is as deep as anyone should go.

Drying boxes and dehumidifiers: what’s honestly worth it

Every clinic will happily sell you a drying box, so here’s the unsold version. There are two kinds. A drying tub is a lidded pot with a desiccant capsule inside that slowly pulls moisture out of the aids overnight. Capsules cost under $20 a tub from your clinic or online specialists like Hearing Savers, and each lasts a month or two. An electric dryer like the PerfectDry Lux, around $125 at July 2026 prices, dries the aids with gentle warmth and air in about 45 minutes and adds a UV-C light that kills germs. Prices drift, so check current listings before buying either.

Who actually needs which? If your aids behave themselves and your bedroom isn’t damp, the cheap tub genuinely covers you. So does simply leaving the battery door open in a dry drawer. The electric dryer earns its keep in the conditions Australia specialises in: muggy Queensland and northern NSW summers, the tropical wet season, coastal air, and wearers who garden, walk or play bowls in the heat and come home damp. It’s also the better answer for rechargeable aids, which have no battery door to leave open. If an aid has already been in for one moisture repair, the $125 is cheap insurance against the second.

Your situation	Better fit
Dry bedroom, aids running fine, disposable batteries	Battery door open overnight, or a drying tub with capsules
Humid or coastal area, tropical wet season, active outdoors	Electric drying box, used nightly
Rechargeable aids	Electric drying box, or a charger with a built-in drying function
An aid that has already had a moisture fault	Electric drying box, plus a word with your clinic

Battery care in one paragraph each

Disposable (zinc-air) batteries. The sticker on the back is what keeps the battery asleep, so peel it and then wait a full minute before closing the door. The battery needs that minute of air to wake up properly, and skipping it shortens its life. Store spares in their packet, not loose in a pocket or bag where keys and coins can short them out, and keep them well away from anywhere a grandchild or pet could reach, because a swallowed button battery is a genuine emergency.

Rechargeable aids. Charge them every night, the same way you would a phone, and give the charging contacts an occasional wipe with the dry cloth. The built-in battery slowly wears over a few years and is replaced by the clinic rather than at home. That replacement is one of the ongoing costs covered in our guide to what hearing aids really cost in Australia. And if you’re still choosing between the two types, our rechargeable vs battery guide weighs them up properly.

Where to buy supplies in Australia

Start with your own clinic. Many include wax guards, domes and cleaning consumables free or cheaply as part of their aftercare, and if you’re a Hearing Services Program client, the optional maintenance plan of around $50 a year covers batteries and repairs, so check what’s already yours before buying anything. Beyond that, Australian online specialists like Hearing Savers stock cleaning kits, wipes, drying capsules, electric dryers and brand-matched wax guards with free shipping on most orders, the big clinic chains sell consumables over the counter, and hearing aid batteries are on the shelf at most pharmacies and supermarkets. The one rule when ordering online: match the wax guards and domes to your exact brand and model, which is printed on the packet your last lot came in.

When to let the clinic do it

Home care handles the daily grime, but a proper service every six months or so is still worth having: the clinic vacuums wax from places the brush can’t reach, replaces tubing, and checks the aid is still matched to your hearing. Many Australian chains bundle a year or more of free aftercare with aids bought from them, Hearing Services Program clients get an annual review included, and that difference is worth hundreds over the years. What’s included, and what servicing costs when it isn’t, is covered in the ongoing-costs section of our hearing aid costs guide. And any time an aid sounds weak after a fresh wax guard and a clean, book in rather than fiddling. Sometimes the problem is wax in the ear itself, not the aid.

Next steps

If you’re still weighing up which aids to get, our guide to the questions to ask at the audiologist helps you walk in prepared, and the costs guide shows what you’ll actually pay. There’s plenty more in our hearing guides. And if your aids are brand new, our guide to the first month with hearing aids helps you through the settling-in weeks.