About SpeakerCleaner Live
SpeakerCleaner Live is a free browser tool that plays a 150 to 200 Hz sound sweep, centred on 165 Hz, through your phone speaker. The vibration pushes trapped water droplets and loose dust out through the grille, usually within one to three 30-second runs. No app to install, no sign-up, no permissions.
Why I built it
I built Speaker Cleaner after dropping my iPhone 12 Pro Max in the bath. My wife had told me more than once not to use my phone in the bathroom, so this wasn't something I could tell her about. The speaker went muffled straight away.
I did what most people do and put the phone in rice. It barely helped. Apple Watch already clears water from its own speaker with sound: when Water Lock is turned off, in Apple's words, "a series of tones plays to clear any water that remains in the speaker". Most phones have nothing like that, so I built a tool that does the same job on any phone with a browser, and explains plainly what it can and can't fix.
What I found while building it
- One run made a clear difference. The first time I tried an early version on my iPhone 12 Pro Max with water in the speaker, a single run made the sound noticeably clearer, and I could see droplets coming out of the grille. Next to rice, it wasn't close.
- 165 Hz moved the most water. I tried tones up to 2 kHz. For water, the tones around 165 Hz pushed out the most, which matches the physics on why speaker cleaners use 165 Hz. For dust, the wider Extended range seemed a little more helpful, which is why the tool offers both.
- Sound has limits. My Xiaomi 11T had collected ordinary dust over a few years, and Speaker Cleaner couldn't shift it. I had to clear it by hand with small tools. That's why the guides here say clearly when sound won't be enough, and how to clean the grill safely instead.
These are my own observations on my own phones, not lab measurements. Our formal test procedure is on how we test, and we'll publish its results once they're recorded.
What makes this site different
- Honest limits, stated clearly. Sound pushes out water droplets and loose dust. It cannot dissolve packed lint, reverse corrosion or repair a torn diaphragm. We say so on every page where it matters, and we tell you when a service centre is the right call.
- No numbers we haven't measured. Our test procedure is published on how we test: a 1 kHz reference tone and a sound level meter 10 cm from the grille, measured dry, wet and after each cleaning run. Until those results are recorded, no page on this site states a decibel figure or a success rate.
- Primary sources. Safety advice is cited to manufacturer guidance, such as Apple Support's pages on liquid in the charging port and on Apple Watch Water Lock, not to other blogs.
- Free and private. The tool runs entirely in your browser. It plays sound through your speaker. It never records audio, never asks for permissions and never stores anything.
Who builds and writes it
SpeakerCleaner Live is built by M. Junaid Masood, a software engineer with more than ten years of experience and a degree from Lancaster University in the UK. Junaid also writes the tool pages. Every guide carries the name of the person who wrote it:
- M. Junaid Masood: the cleaning tools, including Water Eject, Dust Cleaner and Speaker Test
- Bilal Irfan: the explainers, such as what a speaker cleaner is and how we test
- Aadil Shezad: troubleshooting guides, such as a muffled speaker and when to repair
- M. Tayyab: the phone brand guides
Quite a few people use the tool now, and the messages are the best part of running it. One simply said "you're a life saver".
Questions, corrections, a phone model you'd like us to cover, or test data you want to share? Write to support@speakercleaner.live.
What you'll find here
- Speaker Cleaner: the main tool, with Water, Dust and Earpiece modes
- Water Eject: step by step for Android and iPhone
- AirPods speaker cleaner: clearing a muffled AirPod
- Why 165 Hz?: why low tones move water better
- Does it work?: the evidence, including Apple's and Xiaomi's built-in versions
- Phone fell in water: what to do in the first 24 hours
- How we test: the procedure we use on every phone
- स्पीकर क्लीनर: the full tool and guide in Hindi