I was cleaning my Nintendo Switch the other day when I realized that I always forget to clean the speakers! Don’t ask me why.
Maybe it’s because they’re small and I’m just forgetful. But anyway, it got me thinking about how you actually go about cleaning the speakers properly.
I mean, we’re always told not to pour water onto speakers, and that we shouldn’t go poking around inside. So, it was safe to say I was curious as to how you should actually clean them correctly.
I did some reading around and this is what I found out – I thought you might like to read about my discoveries too.
How to clean Nintendo Switch speakers. To clean Nintendo Switch speakers you need to get a can of compressed air and spray some air into the speakers to blow out any dust. Then you grab a microfibre cloth and wipe the area down. Next, you need to use a Q-tip/toothpick to clean the inside of the speaker. It’s not advised that you use rubbing alcohol or water to do this.
But, if you have a particularly grotty speaker you may need to use some rubbing alcohol to loosen the gunk. You very gently insert the Q-tip into the speaker to pull out any dirt. Finally, you need to leave the Switch to air dry.
Without further ado let’s get to the cleaning!
What you need…
Before you start cleaning, here’s a list of all the things you’ll need to get…
- Q-tip/toothpick
- Microfibre cloth
- Canned air
- 70% Rubbing alcohol (although this is a last resort. Nintendo recommends 70% or less alcohol content.)
Let’s start cleaning!
How to…
Okay, so now you know what you need, let’s use all of these things to get your speakers clean!
First things first…
If you’re like me and you try to keep your consoles clean and safe, then doing a basic clean every few weeks will do the trick.
However, if you’re a serial spiller and you tip/drop things into your speakers on a regular basis, my advice to you is to always act as fast as you can to clean your speakers.
My second piece of advice is to clean your Nintendo Switch’s speakers when they are facing down. Why, you may ask?
Basically, if you clean your speakers with them facing the ground any dirt should just fall out. Obviously, if you’ve got a sludgy mess inside your speaker this won’t be as effective. But it’s worth trying.
Anyway, here’s what you need to do.
The cleaning phase…
Try and follow my steps below as best as you can, but obviously each speaker is different in terms of dirt. You may find that you have to repeat a few steps before you get clean Nintendo Switch speakers.
- Unplug the power and switch off the machine – before any cleaning can commence it’s really important that no power leads are plugged in, and the machine needs to be powered off. This stops you from getting any electric shocks, and also, it stops the Switch from powering on and ruining your game.
- Grab your can of condensed air and squirt some of it into the speaker – this will blow loose debris out
- Do not spray the air directly into the speaker. Spray it in at a 45-degree angle.
- Wipe the area down with a microfibre cloth.
- Grab a Q-tip and gently put it into the speaker to tease out any leftover dirt – this must be done very gently, so no ramming it in.
- Wipe away any dirt with the microfibre cloth.
For tough pieces of dirt you may need to use a toothpick instead of a Q-tip to clean the inside of the speaker.
Additionally, you may find that you need to add a tiny amount of rubbing alcohol to the Q-tip to loosen up any hard, old gunk that’s inside the speakers. However, you should only do this if you really, really have to.
Basically, only use a small amount of rubbing alcohol to clean your speakers, if your speakers are so dirty and they’ve gone past the point of no return! Imagine you got a whole load of peanut butter and jelly stuck in there – this is the time you turn to alcohol.
However, even in the scenario above you should never, ever saturate the whole Q-tip in rubbing alcohol as this could potentially damage the speaker. Use small amounts of rubbing alcohol at a time. Because getting your Nintendo Switch’s speakers replaced isn’t really something you want to consider…
Be patient and work with your speakers to get them clean. Don’t expect miracles to happen if your speakers are choking on filth.
Don’t’s…
There are a few things you should never use to clean your Nintendo Switch these include…
- Acetone based products
- Water
These two don’t react well with the Switch and can actually break the whole console. So, it’s better to stick to more neutral products that won’t cause major harm to your Nintendo Switch console.
Why do you need to clean your Nintendo Switch speakers?
For those of you wondering why you need to clean your speakers, here are a few points to consider…
Clean speakers can help to produce better sound. So, your gaming experience will be enhanced if the sound coming out of your Switch is first class!
It’s visually appealing. Who wants to stare down at yucky-looking speakers? It’s really not nice and it can be a put-off to other people who use your Switch. They may be concerned about how dirty the console is!
Finally, you’ve got basic hygiene to consider. A Nintendo Switch is a console that we all love to play, which means it passes through a lot of hands. And this means there is a massive chance that your Switch is covered in all types of dirt.
Given that the speakers on a Switch are located near the screen, there’s a really good chance that a lot of hand sweat and dirt is in there. Just keep them clean!
Preventative measures
So, if you’re like me and you forget to clean your Switch’s speakers from time to time, here are a few things you can do to give them a quick clean and to stop dirt gathering inside them.
Some people stick some black tape across the speakers. This stops most things from getting stuck inside the speaker, it’s good if you’ve got young kids who are likely to eat and drink around the console. It might save you a few dollars in repair fees. Plus, the black tape should affect the sound coming from the speakers too much.
Or, you could just keep a pack of wipes near the Switch so you can give the whole machine a wipe down after every use. That’ll help to pull off any dirt that could make its way into the speaker.
Rr, you could keep a can of compressed air near your Nintendo Switch, so after every use, give your speakers a quick blast. This should clear out any dirt that has gathered throughout that gaming session at least.
Finally, you could make sure that no food or drink is consumed while anybody plays the console. And have a rule that people must wash their hands before handling the console.
Conclusion
Now you know how to keep you Nintendo Switch speakers clean. Here’s a quick recap of what I covered.
- What you need:
- Q-tip/toothpick
- Microfibre cloth
- Canned air
- 70% Rubbing alcohol (although this is a last resort. Nintendo recommends 70% or less alcohol content.)
- You should act fast if you spill something into the speaker.
- You need to think about cleaning your speakers while they’re facing the floor. This way if anything is stuck inside it can drop out.
- You got a step-by-step guide to cleaning the speakers out.
- I covered some don’ts:
- no acetone
- no water.
- I told you about why you should clean the speakers out.
- I gave you some tips on how to keep your speakers clean in the future.
If you’ve got your own tips and tricks let me know in the comments! It would be great to hear what you’ve got to say.
FAQs
How do I clean my Nintendo Switch vents? It’s super simple to clean vents out, all you need is a can of compressed air and a vacuum cleaner. Check out this article here for a step-by-step guide.
How do I clean the charging port on my Switch? Aha, the delicate charging port can be cleaned very quickly. All you need is a Jewelers Loupe, some compressed air, and a toothpick. Check out our step-by-step guide to cleaning the charging port here.
Can I connect my Nintendo Switch to my TV without the dock? Yes, you can. You will need to get a special adapter that is the equivalent of the dock to do this. You can read more about this here.
How do I charge my Nintendo Switch controllers? The most obvious answer to this question is to use the Switch dock. However, there are other points to consider, you can read more about this topic here.