How to Clean up faded speaker cones

[mariabella]

If your speaker has had grills on it, chances are the small amount of dust that makes its way onto the driver(s) is not going to affect anything. Your best bet is to leave the driver(s) alone, and only clean the cabinet(s).

But if you must clean your driver(s), for whatever reason, dry cleaning is best. Microfiber cloths are OK if you are very delicate with your movements, but cleaning with any cloth implies that some amount of pressure, however little, is usually required.

Swiffer dusters are a better option, so long as you gently move the fibers across the driver(s) without applying pressure. The fibers should pull dust to them; you do not need nor want to clean the driver(s) with pressure.

Personally, however, if I absolutely must clean one of my drivers, I prefer a non-disposable duster. Swiffer brand and other disposable dusters tend to leave behind fibers when used on textured surfaces. You are more likely to leave fibers around dust caps, etc., with disposable dusters than with more traditional dusters, especially if your drivers are made of a more textured material such as Kevlar or carbon fiber.

Whatever you do, never clean a driver using solvents. Even water is often not recommended. The paper in paper cones, for instance, is treated with a blend of chemicals in order to achieve a desired rigidity, weight, and other characteristics. Any solvent you use can mess with this blend and thus change the characteristics of the cone material. You do not want this to happen, as any change to the cone can significantly alter the speaker's sound profile.

Even metallic cones, although more resilient to cleaning than paper cones, can be chemically treated. So be careful.

Also, and this should go without saying at this point, but tweeters are often especially delicate. In almost all cases, even if you clean the other driver(s) on a given speaker, it is best to leave the tweeter alone altogether. It is just not worth the risk.

Lastly, and to round out the solvent advice above, do not blow on your speakers. Your spit can do more damage than you think it can. (Canned air is sometimes an option with woofers, but be careful with smaller drivers as the air stream may be too strong for the driver to handle without damage.)

Edit: A few notes on alcohol: Alcohol is most definitely a solvent, and not a weak one at that. The reason people often recommend using it for delicate work is due to alcohol's preference to quickly evaporate at room temperature before it has a chance to work upon all but the thinnest of layers on the surface it is used upon. But apply too thick of a layer of alcohol and it will not evaporate quickly enough to remain gentle. Most screen wipes, for instance, will apply enough alcohol to break down food particles (gross, I know) and smudges. This amount of alcohol will take several seconds to evaporate, which may be too much time, depending on the usage.
References:
https://www.dynaudio.com/dynaudio-ac...-speaker-cones
https://www.lifewire.com/clean-home-...eakers-4128695
https://infotainmentbeats.com/best-b...akers-for-car/
https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Speakers

[bob orbell]

I always remove the drivers, take them into my workshop, paint a little petrol all over them then blow dry with an air line at 150 PSI, never had any bother with damage, I do this every first day of April. Bob

[Chris]

Good write up mariabella, what can really mess up speaker drivers are exposure to direct sunlight.

Chris.