I remember reading somewhere while searching for something else that some pads have certain things in them so that they stay fluffy and can last a long time, etc. Do the Grado comfies have these?

A few days ago I built up the courage to wear them in public, and I rode my bike with them. It was in the low 30s that day so I didn't sweat much but I remember my Sony Streetstyles had pads that were so sweaty they were too disgusting to put on by the time I sold them.

Can I wash the comfies? And what's the best way to do it.. could I just throw it in with the laundry, or just soak it in soapy water?

[size=xx-small]btw - the Grados for bikeriding are much better than my mx500s. The isolation is great. Buds don't cover your whole ear, so if there's a 10 mph wind, and you're riding 20 mph, you've got 30 mph of wind coming at you, and the back curved part of your ear acts like a funnel for it and you hear the wind more than the music. This is unless you really blast it in which case it's 50/50. Yet now you're hurting your ears and still hear too much wind. The Grados cover your whole ear so you hear no wind at all. You don't hear outside noise that much, it's a nice tradeoff.. you don't hear every little noise outside yet you can hear cars pass by if they're close, you can hear enough noise to allow you to avoid cars. They were also much better portably than the HD497s I had some time ago, as they're much smaller, can be customized to have a tighter fit(and they do right out of the box!), I never had to worry about them falling off while I was riding.

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You should probably hand wash them, gently... unless you're really hankering for flat pads Let me know if that gets rid of their funky smell, and whether any dye/color comes out. They must use some weird kind of industrial dye for the comfies.

Also, I personally would not be listening to headphones while biking. Is it even possible to wear MS-1's and a helmet simultaneously?

They don't smell yet, so no worries until later. I don't want to be the beta tester for this, so if anybody has washed them before, feel free to comment.

I'm ordering another pair soon enough to cut the holes in them for a mod that was recommended to me in the amps forum. Perhaps if I dislike that mod, I'll test on them.. or vice versa. I'd like to know if someone else tried it already, though.

Helmet? oh... erm... yes, of course I wear a helmet.

I also would recommend against biking with headphones. Mainly because you cannot hear what is going on around you. I have tried it and it just feels weird to me. Then again I tried it with ER6s and they can be dangerous even to walk around with.

If you wash the pads I would just rinse them out with water. If you want to use soap go for woolite.

I think they're in a different class. These provide no real isolation, while etys are 'bibi outside world' headphones.

Ety's are wierd even if someone is in the same room as you.

Yes, the comfies can be washed. Someone suggested to put them in your pants pockets when you wash your pants. That will probably help them last longer too.

I've washed my headphone pads several times by hand with a little dishwashing soap with no problem. I use a towel to squeeze out the water then I put them on top of my lampshade to dry. The bulb is just warm enough to completely dry them out in 30 minutes to an hour.

i've never tried washing but i'd probably recommend against detegents. they're designed to be hash and strip oil and the like. they might deteriorate the very fine plastic (or whatever it's made out of) in the foam. even just soaking them (mayeb with soap) may do the job

I tried washing the pads with detergent and thrown it in the dryer for half an hour. Nothing went wrong except part of the dye came off and it's much cleaner now

EDIT: I was refering to my SR60 stock pads

As Budley007 said: handwash under running water with a little dishsoap or liquid handsoap, rinse well in warm water, dry them by squeezing in a towel, set them out for awhile to dry completely.

I dyed my yellow Vwap flats black last night--I submerged them in near-boiling dye water and stirred them around for a few minutes, recooked the dye bath in the microwave to heat it a couple times, stirred some more, then rinsed in very hot water followed by 3 or 4 warm water liquid soap baths to remove as much of the extra dye as possible followed by a cool rinsing. They feel the same as they did before all that water, dye and soap abuse. In fact, there's still a little extra black dye in the pads turning my ears black and giving me funky-looking "sideburns", so I need to wash them again.

In summary, you can wash your pads--no problem.