Cleaning Radio Mic Accessories and Wind Protection Equipment

by Caleb Hill

We've compiled some equipment cleaning best practices to help our community overcome some of the foreseeable challenges in the future of film and television production. It's important to be aware of how these changes will affect protocol on set; keeping you, your co-workers and your equipment safe and bringing peace of mind to all clients and crew involved in productions moving forward. Here are some guides to keeping your Bubblebee Equipment (and microphones et al) clean.

Cleaning The Lav Concealer

Sometimes it may be necessary to clean your Lav Concealers, removing unwanted grime, dust and any other contaminants. The Lav Concealer is made of 100% biodegradable rubber, so we show you how to clean it properly while protecting the material in this video guide:

Instructions:

  1. Rinse the Lav Concealer under luke-warm water (35 to 40 degrees Celsius)
  2. Add a drop of dish washing detergent to The Lav Concealer and work it over the concealer with your fingers, getting it into all the grooves and over all the surface area.
  3. Rinse away the dirt and soap. Repeat process if desired.
  4. Leave on clean, cool surface away from the sun to dry.
  5. It is possible to use a light antibacterial spray and alcohol-soaked wipes if you feel the need. Just be sure to rinse The Lav Concealer well with water afterwards.

Cleaning the Windbubbles

If you've taken your Windbubbles a little too deep into the wild, it might be time to give them a bath, so to speak. This guide to cleaning The Windbubble is also particularly good if you want to sanitise them between jobs for personal use on talent. Here's our video guide on how to clean a Windbubble:

Instructions:

  1. Holding the legs, rinse The Windbubble under luke-warm water (35 to 40 degrees Celsius)
  2. Use a drop of shampoo or dishwashing detergent and work it into the fur with your fingers. Be careful not crush to the inner mesh basket with your fingers.
  3. Rinse the soap and dirt out of the fur and gently shake excess water from Windbubble
  4. You may want to use a comb or brush to seperate the fur again and remove excess water before drying
  5. Leave to dry in the sun. If outside, secure it by fitting it on a pen/pencil or similar.
  6. 6. To speed up the drying process, use a hair-dryer on a medium or low heat setting to dry the Windbubble.

Cleaning The Windkiller & The Spacer Kit

Take good care of your Windkiller or Spacer Bubble and it will take good care of your mic for years. Here's how to clean and disinfect the Windkiller, Spacer Bubble or Spacer Kit fur and return it to all its original fluffy glory. Watch our video guide below:

Instructions:

  1. R1. Rinse The Windkiller under luke-warm water (35 to 40 degrees Celsius) to remove most of the dirt. For The Spacer Kit or Spacer Bubble: remove the fur from the mesh base first.
  2. Use a drop of shampoo or dishwashing liquid and work a lather into the fur to remove any stubborn dirt particles.
  3. Rinse away the dirt/foam with luke-warm water and gently squeeze out / shake off excess water.
  4. You may want to use a comb or brush to separate the fur again and remove excess water before drying.
  5. Shake out The Windkiller or Spacer Bubble fur and leave it in the sun to dry.
  6. To speed up the drying process, or for indoor drying, use a hairdryer on a medium or low heat setting to dry the Windkiller or Spacer Bubble

Cleaning radio mics and wireless body packs

We’ve gathered up some useful links below about how best to clean and look after some other tools in your sound arsenal, like microphones, cables and wireless transmitter body-packs:

Cleaning Lavalier, Shotgun Mics & Cables by DPA Microphones: proper microphone hygiene → www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/proper-mic-hygiene

Cleaning Radio Mics by Lectrosonics: Developing sanitation protocols for lav work → www.lectrosonics.com/wire-lists-26-developing-sanitation-protocols-for-lav-work.html

We understand this will be an ongoing process as the film and tv industry moves forward and productions restart again, so we will be updating this guide accordingly. Keep up to date by subscribing to our newsletter here. If you have any questions or suggestions on the above, feel free to get in touch with our team here.

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