Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Bought a set of 20 pairs for my e3c's - using them in the gym daily
I'm finding that they are not expanding as much as before, I'm not getting the isloation and therefore I'm swapping them out for a new pair - roughly once a week
How long are these thing supposed to last?
I've tried washing a pair but they don't return to the 'as new' springiness or size...
Any way to restore these things? - use a special cleaning fluid?
[500 byte] By [
dnd] at [2007-11-10 14:33:27]
# 1 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
try cleaning it in boiling or near boiling water, and then quick drying it with some heat. I read on another forum this method will retain their springiness. Give it a shot, and be sure to let us know the results.
# 2 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Update - found a solution
The trick with washing and drying these things is keeping them in one place at a time
Take an old sock, put your foamies inside, tie up at one end and throw it in with your usual wash
After the wash open the sock and stick the end over a hairdryer, blow dry for around 5-10 minutes and they come out brand new
dnd at 2007-11-15 15:23:55 >
# 3 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Originally posted by CookieFactory
try cleaning it in boiling or near boiling water, and then quick drying it with some heat. I read on another forum this method will retain their springiness. Give it a shot, and be sure to let us know the results.
I had a couple of old ones laying around I tossed in some boiling water to see if they would indeed come clean.
They basically disintegrated. So.. boiling water.. bad idea.
SWiTCH at 2007-11-15 15:24:53 >
# 4 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Shure labels them as 'disposable', but i dont they should be for the prices Shure wants for them.
# 5 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Originally posted by thebrain
Shure labels them as 'disposable', but i dont they should be for the prices Shure wants for them.
Yeah, but who else makes foamies (IMO the best isolator) with hollow pipes in the centre?
Anyway, my cleaning tip seems to work so they won't be getting anymore money out of me :)
dnd at 2007-11-15 15:26:57 >
# 6 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
I usually just heat up the sink water, put the plug at the bottom, and place them in for about ten minutes. Then I swirl them around for a bit and all the dirt comes off, place them beside the sink on the counter for a bit and squeeze all the water out, then let them sit and dry for about a day. I've done it three times to a couple pairs and they're still pretty good, not as good as they were originally, but much cleaner and better than before.
-Dan
# 7 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Originally posted by Doug Gilmour
I've done it three times to a couple pairs and they're still pretty good, not as good as they were originally, but much cleaner and better than before.
Yeah, I tried leaving them to dry, they never go back to the original state.
Try blow drying them in a sock, believe me, they spring back to their original state ;)
dnd at 2007-11-15 15:28:57 >
# 8 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Originally posted by dnd
Update - found a solution
The trick with washing and drying these things is keeping them in one place at a time
Take an old sock, put your foamies inside, tie up at one end and throw it in with your usual wash
After the wash open the sock and stick the end over a hairdryer, blow dry for around 5-10 minutes and they come out brand new
Thanks for the tip I'll have to try it out.
# 9 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
I think what's happening is that the hot air from the hairdryer is heating up the foam's air pockets and pushing them back out to their original state
When you use the foamies their air pockets compress and only a certain percentage return to their original state when you pull them out - this happens everytime until no more pockets are left and the isolation is reduced...
...then you throw them away and buy some more - well, that's what the people selling these things would want us to do ;)
dnd at 2007-11-15 15:30:54 >
# 10 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Yeah shure doesn't make any money off of customers that wash and blow dry their foamies. And at $12USD + tax and shipping for 5 pairs they are not cheap enough to throw out after wearing a week or 2. You don't want to be paying $80-$100 a year on replacement foamies.
# 11 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
I keep my foamies clean by covering them with a softflex sleeve. It's a comfortable combination with a great seal as well.
Reiki at 2007-11-15 15:33:04 >
# 12 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Originally posted by Reiki
I keep my foamies clean by covering them with a softflex sleeve. It's a comfortable combination with a great seal as well.
You'll have to post piccies of that one - I'm having a hard time visualising it ;)
dnd at 2007-11-15 15:34:02 >
# 13 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
It was a mod I also read about; was on Head-fi. It essentially requires removing the centre tube of the foamies carefully with a sharp cutting tool, before then affixing them 'inside' the back of your flex-sleeves.
# 14 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Originally posted by dnd
You'll have to post piccies of that one - I'm having a hard time visualising it ;)
Here's the thread for combining foamies with the ultra soft flex sleeves
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1384473#post1384473
Reiki at 2007-11-15 15:36:03 >
# 15 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
Looks like the foam increases the Shures soft rubbers rigidty when in the ear - must be like using Shures stiffer clear rubber ones but with more comfort...
dnd at 2007-11-15 15:37:09 >
# 16 Re: Shure foamies quickly losing their springiness
hmmm... hope that washing thing works...
btw, u can just insert little tubes...
