You should wash your AirPods Max headphones. I know this because I recently had to wash mine after an incident where my coffee spilled in my bag and damaged many of my personal belongings. For obvious and personal reasons, I won’t stop carrying my coffee in my bag when circumstances require it, but I will wash my Apple headphones more often because, as it turns out, they were filthy. Here’s what I did, and what you should do too.

Apple is very clear about the most important part of washing your Airpods Max, and I will be too: Don’t submerge them. Don’t soak them. Don’t get them wet at all, actually. It’s a holy miracle coffee didn’t ruin mine; don’t tempt fate more than you have to.

Instead, you’ll be doing a lot of delicate work by hand, far away from your sink. Start by gathering your supplies: liquid laundry soap, two lint-free cloths, a small container, and some water. Next, you’ll notice that the ear cushions on your headphones pop out of the headband, held there by magnets. Go ahead and remove them. They’re likely to get dirtier than your typical leatherette or vinyl ear cushions, since these are made of foam and mesh, so makeup, sweat, hair product, and general grime can seep in.

For the metal, technical part, you only need a slightly damp cloth, which you run over the outer and inner parts of the sections that go on your ears. Do this gently, and get into all the crevices, but avoid getting any liquid in the openings, such as the holes that let the sound in or the port where you charge them. If the outer part of the headphones is really dirty, use a disinfectant wipe or a wipe with 70% isopropyl alcohol to gently wipe the surface. Just don't let it come into contact with the knitted part of the headband and don't use anything with bleach or hydrogen peroxide.