After buying hearing protection devices, whether earplugs, earmuffs, or any other, you need to take good care of them.

Benefits of proper maintenance of hearing protectors

There are plenty of benefits that come with the regular and proper maintenance of the hearing protectors. Some of these benefits include:

Long lifespan: When you properly maintain your pieces, they last for a long time. This saves you money or the annoyance of having to think about the best pair to go for.

High sound quality: Just like a properly maintained car, properly maintained headphones perform better. One of the reasons why the pieces don’t give you the good quality sound that you deserve is due to accumulation of dirt, wax, and other materials.

Properly maintained pieces are usually dirt free thus produce high-quality sound. This not only allows you to listen to your favorite music, it also helps you to block the noise coming from the lawnmower or any machine that you might be using.

Maintain the look: One of the reasons you bought the hearing protectors is because you liked how they looked on display. When you wear the pieces for a long time, they are bound to look different and lose their original look.

Fortunately, with proper care, the units don’t lose much of the original look. When you store the pieces in a safe place away from direct sunlight, you protect the colors from fading. Proper care also prevents the pieces from developing cracks that give them an ugly look. The cracks also predispose them to damage.

Avoid invalidating the warranty: Did you buy top of the end radio headphones or any other pieces? You were most likely given a warranty. Usually of a year. While the manufacturing companies say that they will cover the pieces when they develop issues, they are usually very picky about what they cover.

For example, they don’t cover them if they have cracks. If you want to maintain the warranty and be able to replace the units when they develop manufacturing problems, you should take good care of them.

How do you maintain the hearing protectors?

There are many ways in which you do it. Some of these ways include:

Cleaning the headphones regularly

This is probably the most obvious way of taking good care of your hearing protection devices. Before you start cleaning them, ensure that you have unplugged them from your devices.

If you have earbuds, use screen or alcohol wipe or any other electrical friendly cleaner to kill off any bacteria that might be present. The alcohol will also help you in removing grime that might be on the pieces thus leaving your headphones looking as good as new.

Have you been using the headphones for a long time? You need to do a deeper cleaning. You can do this using mildly soapy water and Q-tips. You should squeeze out the Q-tip before you rub it around the buds. If there are grooves in the unit, use a dry toothbrush or toothpick to get rid of any dirt.

If you have over-ear headphones, these pieces come with replaceable silicone, foam or cloth covers that you can remove and replace them when the pieces get too dirty. When it comes to the main band and caps, clean them with a microfiber cloth that will keep them clean and shiny.

Handle the pieces with care

In addition to regularly cleaning the hearing protection devices, you also need to handle the pieces with care. As rule of thumb, avoid pulling the cables when working or putting them on. When lawn mowing, take care that you don’t step on the pieces or pass the lawn mower over them as you will destroy them.

Store the pieces properly

How you store the pieces has a great impact on their life. When you aren’t using the hearing protectors, you should clean and put them in their own case. You can buy the case or buy pieces that come with their own dedicated bag.

You don’t have a dedicated bag for the pieces? Worry not. If you have a bag, you should keep them in a separate compartment in your main bag. This is to prevent them from getting damaged or squashed.

Mistakes to avoid with your hearing protection devices

There is no way the units will last for a long time if you constantly make mistakes with them. Some of the mistakes you should avoid making include:

• Carrying the headphones in your pocket
• Wrapping a cable around the hearing protection device
• Sharing the headphones
• Listening to the headphones in extremely high volume

One of the reasons you are looking for hearing protection is because you want to prevent losing your hearing. Are you obsessed with noise-induced hearing loss? Here are a few things you should know about it:

You can’t notice it immediately

Unlike popular belief, you can’t tell whether you are suffering from the condition as soon as you have it. This is because the condition takes time to develop. In most cases, the condition is as a result of years of exposure to loud noise and you can’t notice it until you have noticeable signs.

Some of the signs you are suffering from the condition include: having problems hearing what another person is saying when he/she is close to you, having a feeling of “fullness” when you leave a noisy area, rigging ears after you have been exposed to noise, and difficulty understanding speech after you have been exposed to the noise for a long time.

You should note that having these symptoms doesn’t mean you are outrightly suffering from noise-induced hearing loss. For you to be certain you are suffering from the condition, you need to visit a medical facility and have tests done on you.

You can prevent the condition from coming about

We are living in a noisy environment but this doesn’t mean we will all be suffering from noise-induced hearing loss. This is because you can prevent the condition from coming about. The obvious way is to avoid the noisy environment. If you can, you should stay away from noisy machines. When listening to music, listen to it at low volume.

Staying away from the noise is easily said than done as everywhere you turn there is noise. The logical thing you can do is prevent the noise from damaging your ears. You can do this by wearing hearing protection headphones. Some of the most popular options you have are ear muffs and ear plugs.

Earplugs are small and cheap. The unfortunate thing is they don’t last for a long time. When you buy them, you wear them for a few weeks and you have to replace them. The right time to replace them is when they start hardening.

In addition to earplugs failing to give you the hearing protection you are looking for, hard ear plugs also accumulate bacteria that put your ears at the risk of infection. When you notice the pieces begin to harden, it’s time to replace them.

As mentioned, they are cheap and you can easily find them at your local drug store or online stores such as eBay, Amazon, and many others.

Ear muffs, on the other hand, are tough and often made from high-quality plastic. Unlike ear plugs that you replace after a few weeks, ear muffs last for a long time. There are plain ear muffs and others that have radio and allow you to play MP3 when working. Your choice should be influenced by your preferences.

When buying earmuffs, buy high-quality pieces that will provide you with the right fit. They also should be comfortable to wear as you will have to be in them the entire day.

Noise-induced hearing loss is permanent

The unfortunate thing about noise-induced hearing loss is that you can’t reverse it. Once you develop the condition, your goose is cooked. The main reason for this is that the tiny hairs that break due to the extreme noise don’t grow back.

For you to improve your hearing, you will have to use hearing aids.

You can develop the condition when exposed to loud noise even once

While most of the noise-induced hearing losses are as a result of regular exposure to loud noises, you can develop the condition even when you are exposed to the noise once. For example, when you are exposed to a single explosion, loud concert noise, or gunshot, you can develop the condition.

For you to be on the safe side, make it a habit of having your hearing protection all the time, especially when you are anticipating being exposed to loud noises.

When you are buying work pants, you need to buy the right ones. To help you out, here are some of the mistakes that you should avoid making when making the purchase:

Buying pants that are too big

The big pants might look stylish, but they won’t be ideal for you at the work site. One of the negatives of wearing work pants that are too big is that they tend to be uncomfortable and too heavy for you to move around in. This becomes a huge challenge when you need to walk fast at the site.

The large pants might also trip you when working. This not only puts you at the risk of tearing the pants, but it also puts you at the risk of falling and hurting yourself.

To be on the safe side, you should take your time when buying the pants and ensure that you buy those that are fitting. The key to buying fitting pants is to try on the pants at the store. If buying from an online store, take your time and take the right measurements. You also should read the reviews left by previous customers.

It’s common for online stores to send you pants that are too large for you. When this happens, don’t hesitate to send them back.

Buying work pants that are too small

Another mistake you can make is to buy work pants that are too small for you. This usually comes about when you are looking to buy pants that fit you perfectly, but they end up being a size smaller.

Just like the large work pants, small pants also pose a lot of danger to you. One of the risks is that they can get torn when you are working which would result in you going back to the store and buying new pants, which would be an added cost on your side.

The small pants might also be too uncomfortable for you to wear, which results in you being uncomfortable at the work site. This has been shown to affect productivity greatly.

Finally, the small work pants don’t give you enough room to store the work tools. As you might have guessed, this means that you can’t walk with your tools which makes your work very difficult.

Just like I have mentioned above, you should take your time when buying the work pants at the store. As rule of thumb, try on the pants before you make the purchase.

Buying from the wrong company

The work pants that you buy are as good as where you buy them from. If you buy from a crappy store, the chances are that you will get a crappy deal, and vice versa. For you to be on the safe side, you should take your time and find a reputable store from where you can make a purchase.

The easiest way of telling whether a company is reputable is by reading online reviews. You should only buy from a company that has stellar reviews.

Conclusion

These are some of the mistakes that you should avoid making when buying work pants for construction or any other project you might be having. As mentioned, always ensure that you buy the pants from a reputable store that has been around for a long time.