It's absolutely disgusting to me just how many people fail to properly and consistently clean their earbuds. To me, wearing dirty earbuds is equivalent to rewearing dirty socks.
I clean my earbuds everytime I finish wearing them and it's honestly become such a chore. Having hardware designs that are easily cleanable are so important. I really wish earbud manufacturers would stop putting hard right angles and recessed charging contacts into the body of earbuds because they just attract hard to clean gunk. Also, eartips should be round bulbs instead of a mushroom shape, that way it doesn't accumulate gunk on the underside of the eartips, requiring you to tediously invert the mushroom just to get all the earwax out.
Drip some hydrogen peroxide into your ear while laying on your side. Wait 5 minutes (it feels amazing). Turn your head so it drips out onto a paper towel and allow it to drain completely. You will see how clean your ears really were. I only dry the ear with a swab mostly on the outside while it's draining. Don't do this more than once a year. It feels like a seltzery orgasm in your ears.