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How do you clean your foam tips?

post #1 of 18
1/28/05 at 9:15am
Thread Starter 
Shure says the foam tips are "throw-aways" but I don't really have any easy means of purchasing new ones, so I'm going to clean them instead.... what is the best way?
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post #2 of 18
1/28/05 at 12:34pm
No matter what I do the tips don't last very long for me. The only thing I do to clean them is slosh them around in some warm soapy water then let them air dry. Don't squeeze, since that just hastens the foam's decay. Wiping them off with alchohol is supposed to be good, but I don't have the patience to do that.
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post #3 of 18
1/28/05 at 12:41pm
I'd suggest you try alcohol as it should remove any traces of earwax as well as sanitize them.
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post #4 of 18
1/28/05 at 12:48pm
The foamies are truly disposable. The longer you use them, the more the sound quality will decrease. With that said, I never tried washing them. One thing I did to help was purchase a wax removal system at my local drug store. It helped keep my ears clean, which in turn kept the foamies alive.
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post #5 of 18
1/28/05 at 4:16pm
yes, i agree; keeping ears clean is the more effective measure; cleaning the foamies isn't an altogether useful strategy.
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post #6 of 18
1/28/05 at 4:34pm
Since i bout my shure's, i clean my ears first thing when i get up in the morning.
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post #7 of 18
1/28/05 at 7:05pm
Thread Starter 
Hmm but where do you get replacement foamies? :>
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post #8 of 18
1/28/05 at 8:27pm
I believe Headroom carries them.

www.headphone.com
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post #9 of 18
1/28/05 at 8:42pm
When I bought my pair of Shure E2c, I tried the foam tips, and was hooked! I immediately ordered 10 pairs of small 'foamies' from Earphonesolutions, who were quite good on price and provided excellent service.

After a month's heavy usage in the gym, the original foam tips were not looking very sightly. I decided to remove them, and insert a fresh pair. However, before doing this I decided to throw the 'dirty' pair in a normal 40º wash cycle (inside a cotton shirt pocket), instead of the bin.

The tips came out brand new, albeit they feel slightly harder - but they soon softned once inserted into the ear. The sound degradation is zero and in hindsight, those 10 pairs will last me the whole lifetime of the phones...
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post #10 of 18
1/29/05 at 4:16am
iDealSound (Head-Fi Sponser) not only has good prices on canal phones, but all accessories I've needed so far, at better than list price.

accessories

I ordered LOTS of foamies, replacement filters, and some triflanges for my ety ER-4's. so I'd not have the hassle of ordering all the time. I won't run out for years...
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post #11 of 18
3/1/05 at 12:55pm
I read somewhere that the Ety grey foams are the same size as the Shure E3's, but cost a lot cheaper and last a lot longer.
Is this true?
Thanks and Luv my E3's!!!
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post #12 of 18
3/1/05 at 3:40pm
what do you guys use to clean your ears?
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post #13 of 18
3/1/05 at 3:41pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by prona
what do you guys use to clean your ears?
cotton sticks =)
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post #14 of 18
3/1/05 at 3:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by akerman
cotton sticks =)
Cotton swabs should never go in your ear, it even says so on the package. A LOT of people who clean there ears with cottons swabs end of getting compacted ear wax which has to be removed by a health care professional.

I clean my ears in the shower, the outside part and let the water from the shower wash some of the soapy water into the ear canal, then about once a week I put hydrogen peroxide in each ear for a couple of minutes and then flush it out with warm water.

You can also get ear wax removal kits (murine brand for example) at any drug store. These are good if you have some built up wax but not at all neccessary for maintenance.

As for cleaning foams, I've had the best luck with washing them in very hot plain water, drying them part way with a hair dryer on low setting and then setting them somewhere slightly warm (top of computer case for example) until they are COMPLETELY dry. Since my ears are fairly clean I usually get 4-6 weeks out of a new pair of foam tips, and then another 2-3 weeks after I wash them.
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post #15 of 18
3/1/05 at 3:56pm
Liquid nitrogen.
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