Cleaning speakers

Cleaning speakers can be puzzling, because there are so many different parts to clean. On a typical bookshelf speaker, you can have a wood veneer cabinet, a cloth grille, and drivers of any number of different materials inside. Let's start with the cabinet.

On the left, you can see a speaker that's gone undusted for a while — look at the dust and pet hair that got caught under the grille. On the right, you can see the improvement after a mere five seconds of light dusting.

Cabinets
Whether your cabinet boasts a real wood veneer, a highly realistic wood-look vinyl, a shiny black laminate finish, or some kind of plastic or metal construction, it's still going to get dusty. Your owner's manual may or may not have instructions on keeping this cabinet clean, but be aware that even with a wood cabinet, you should keep typical furniture polishes or sprays away. Pledge and other wood cleaners that contain silicon can leave residue in the wood grain, and damage the finish. Most manufacturers simply recommend cleaning the cabinet with a soft cloth, perhaps lightly dampened by water.

We also recommend wiping dust away from the grille, toward the back of the speaker. Grilles really pick up dust, and if you bump your dusting cloth against the edge of one, you're likely to see a pale, dusty smudge appear.

Grilles
Most grilles get pretty dusty. Part of their job is to protect your speaker's drivers, and if they're not capturing and holding dust, they're not doing their job. In the case of fabric grilles, you may be able to carefully vacuum them to remove dust. If they are soiled or stained, you may be able to remove them and rinse them gently with warm water, then lay them somewhere safe to dry.

In the case of plastic or metal grilles, removing them from the speaker, then wiping them with a dry or lightly dampened cloth, is probably your best bet. You can also use a can of compressed air, or the upholstery brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner. Some satellite speakers may have non-removable grilles. Try dusting them with a dry cloth. If you're unable to remove dust or soiling that way, use a damp cloth very sparingly — you don't want any moisture to get through to the drivers inside.

Drivers
Dust certainly can build up on drivers, but you should avoid touching your drivers as much as possible. Relying on a clean, dry paintbrush with very soft bristles, or gently using a can of compressed air, is probably a good solution if your drivers have become seriously dusty. If you're not using your grilles, you may want to — this could extend the life of your speakers.

Compressed-air cans and made-for-electronics sprays can be a quick, easy way to remove dust and dirt from your gear.

Specialty cleaners

Many companies have provided unique cleaning solutions for gear, including chemical cloths designed to wipe down TVs or components, special sprays suitable for use on components, compressed-air anti-dust sprays, and more. Some suggestions:

• In the case of the chemically treated cloths, most A/V component manufacturers recommend following the instructions on the cloth packaging very closely.
• If you're trying out a cleaning spray designed for use with A/V components, follow the directions on the bottle closely. Try it on a side panel of a chassis or on the corner of your TV's screen (depending on which component the spray is for) and make sure you're happy with the results before continuing.
• Compressed-air sprays are very handy for clearing away dust in a hurry. Just remember that dust doesn't magically vanish. If you use such a product to get dust off of front-panel buttons and displays, do be sure to clear dust from under and beside your components periodically as well. And make sure you're not just blowing dust into the vents on your gear.