Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The speaker grill on the bottom of your 6/6S

I

I_am_a_loser

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 8, 2015
199
69
Boston, MA
How do you clean it? I keep my phone in my pants pocket 90% of the time and unavoidably little bits of debris and lint get caught in there, and while it doesn't really bug me, it sort of bugs me. The mesh on the earpiece looks good as new, however. Strange. They must be different materials. Maybe Apple should use whatever they used on the earpiece on the bottom grill for the next iPhone as the stuff on the bottom is a magnet. Anyways, how do you clean yours? I blew lightly in there but nothing happened and I don't wanna overdo it. Sticking something in there isn't an option as I don't want to cause any unnecessary issues. Any tips? What about that canned duster stuff? Too much pressure?
 
Last edited:
I've never seen this kind of build up on my phones anyway.
There are brushes and camera accessories you get get to clean them out.
 
Someone online suggested using a small soft brush like the one that comes with an electric razor, which I have an extra of actually. Gonna use that. Thanks again!
 
I'm not gonna stick anything pointy or sharp in there. I have a brush like the one below that I got with an electric shaver that I've never needed to use. I think it will fit the bill nicely when it comes time to clean the speaker grill out.

23de6f43a5e1d0907a4e364a841285de.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: RadioGaGa1984
I_am_a_loser said:
I'm not gonna stick anything pointy or sharp in there. I have a brush like the one below that I got with an electric shaver that I've never needed to use. I think it will fit the bill nicely when it comes time to clean the speaker grill out.

23de6f43a5e1d0907a4e364a841285de.jpg
Click to expand...
Yeah that would probably work really well. I have one of those brushes that came included with my philips shaver.
 
  • Like
Reactions: I_am_a_loser
A small brush is how I clean mine as well, I turn on a shop vac and position it so anything loosened is pulled away from the phone. Keeps things nicely lint free just make sure the vacuum doesn't grab the phone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: I_am_a_loser
To get lint out of the lightening port I use a pin. You'd think it would harm the inside because it's sharp, but my iPhone wouldn't charge due to the buildup and the genius just cleaned it out with a pin and it was fine! I do it every time I notice any difficulty plugging it in
 
Trickhot3102 said:
To get lint out of the lightening port I use a pin. You'd think it would harm the inside because it's sharp, but my iPhone wouldn't charge due to the buildup and the genius just cleaned it out with a pin and it was fine! I do it every time I notice any difficulty plugging it in
Click to expand...
The only thing is you probably don't want to use something metal to avoid any potential electric conductivity type of issues.
 
I_am_a_loser said:
How do you clean it? I keep my phone in my pants pocket 90% of the time and unavoidably little bits of debris and lint get caught in there, and while it doesn't really bug me, it sort of bugs me. The mesh on the earpiece looks good as new, however. Strange. They must be different materials. Maybe Apple should use whatever they used on the earpiece on the bottom grill for the next iPhone as the stuff on the bottom is a magnet. Anyways, how do you clean yours? I blew lightly in there but nothing happened and I don't wanna overdo it. Sticking something in there isn't an option as I don't want to cause any unnecessary issues. Any tips? What about that canned duster stuff? Too much pressure?
Click to expand...

Perhaps try vacuum?
 
I don't experience this at all (lint or debris) in these holes or the lightning port.

However, my iPhone goes in my pocket upside down and screen facing out so both the lightning port and bottom holes are always facing up.

Makes it easier to answer too as I'm not having to fumble the phone around to the correct position when a call/notification comes in.
 
eyoungren said:
I don't experience this at all (lint or debris) in these holes or the lightning port.

However, my iPhone goes in my pocket upside down and screen facing out so both the lightning port and bottom holes are always facing up.

Makes it easier to answer too as I'm not having to fumble the phone around to the correct position when a call/notification comes in.
Click to expand...
I do the same (except with the screen facing in), but some dust and the like does settle and collect a bit there over time, and it seem like using a case/bumper the covers the bottom and basically just has cutouts might facilitate that accumulation in some ways.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eyoungren
MarkX said:
His post says an Apple Genius used a metal pin so how can there be any conductivity issues?
Click to expand...
Well, I'll say this much, just because an employee does (or says) something, it doesn't always mean it's right or at least the best thing to do. Using something metal in a place where electrical charge is involved isn't the best idea generally speaking (even if most of the time nothing might really happen), but even that aside, using something metal would also generally increase the potential to scratch or even in some way damage something. We can go as far as saying that even if it's not the worst idea or perhaps even a bad idea, there are better ones (something that is made of somewhat softer plastic, for example).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back