[theBishop]

Hey,

I have the Shure E2's and in the manual it describes the Foam tips as "disposable". Can they be cleaned? I was thinking a cup of hot water, but i was worried about the glue that holds the plastic core to the foam weakening. Anyone have expirience on this issue?

 

[lizzardfire]

I do it all the time. I have never had to replace my Shure E3's foamies. I just put it in hot water and a bit of dishwasher detergent, and let soak.

 

[Edwood]

I would not use dishwasher detergent, as it is really harsh and strips out a lot of oils. Perhaps a diluted amount would be enough. Although this is foam we are talking about here.

Either way, I find that the foamies for my Ety's get smooshed down over time, and don't expand as large as they once did.

-Ed

 

[lizzardfire]

My shures do too, but a cleaning restores them to original size and elasticity

 

[nobody020]

Wow! I always thought that it was impossible to "clean" the foamies... Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? I know there must be a reason for their stating on earplugs, "do not clean these ..." ...

but maybe they just want us to buy more.

 

[theBishop]

I cleaned mine tonight. They definitely look like new! When they are a little damp, they move faster, giving you barely any time to get them in your ear, but now that they are totally dry they are just like new.

Note: I shook them up in a small bottle of HOT water mixed with handsoap. Then i rinsed them to get all the soap out.

 

[Kuja]

I wouldn't recommend it. I tried doing it when I had my first set of Ety foamies and was running out. The result was that the foamies lose all rigidity and don't expand much once in your ear, or if they do, they seem more porous and a lot more sound leaks in.

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizzardfire I do it all the time. I have never had to replace my Shure E3's foamies. I just put it in hot water and a bit of dishwasher detergent, and let soak.

How many times have you washed them? I've been washing my foamies, 3 times they turned out OK, but this time they haven't expended back to normal size, but have remained shrunken

Oh well, once they're so grungy you don't want to put them back in your ears you may as well try washing them since there's nothing to lose vs. throwing them out anyways.

 

[random person]

I called Shure to ask them about cleaning the foamies and they recommended using a q-tip and rubbing alcohol to clean them. If you do this after every use you can keep up with the grime and they will last for months -- there's no reason to replace them until they lose their ability to spring back. The q-tip/rubbing alcohol works really well. They say not to thoroughly soak them, just rub with the q-tip and let them dry thoroughly. Works really really well!

 

[beats unbeaten]

I've tried cleaning some Ety foamies with soap and hot water. They lose a lot of their liveliness afterwards, i.e. kinda crunchy and don't spring back so well. Still better than dirty ones and seal ok if they were plenty big for your ears in the first place. Don't use peppermint soap tho... youch

 

[lizzardfire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earwax How many times have you washed them? I've been washing my foamies, 3 times they turned out OK, but this time they haven't expended back to normal size, but have remained shrunken Oh well, once they're so grungy you don't want to put them back in your ears you may as well try washing them since there's nothing to lose vs. throwing them out anyways.

Three times. Just make sure you use really hot (IE: Boiling) water and dish soap (like Joy). Then leave them alone for a few hours to dry.

 

[Dane]

I use very hot tap water and dishing soap. Squeeze them a couple a times in the water and then use clean hot wather to squeeze all the soap out. Then I wrap them in a piece of paper and squeeze all the water out. At this point they dont seem to expand very well due to the moisture. Then I leave them to dry on top of my relatively hot amp. This last step seems to do the trick, because once dry they are fully expanded and in all respects close to indistinguishable from new foamies.

I once let them "cold dry" but they never seemed to expand fully - but on top of the hot amp does it

 

[d_wilson]

The foam eartips can be cleaned about 3-5 times. If the dirt gets into the foam too much the wont recover properly. The cleaned eartips should ony be used by the same person.

The reason for the single use statement on all eartips is due to worry over disease transfer between people. Every company needs to protect themselves from lawsuits.

 

[htom]

I've done the soap/water cleaning, which doesn't really cause the eartips to regain their original size, but I did try to dry them quickly using a hair dryer set on hot and that usually did the trick. I've even tried putting them in the microwave for short intervals and the same thing happens, although the tips usually expand to full size before they're even completely dry. However, in both cases the eartips remain soft only when they're still very warm. Once they cool off completely the smooth ends of the foam pad stiffen up a lot. Now I'm in the habit of warming up the tips in my hand before I roll them for insertion, which helps a little. Quick case, I just remove them and 'wave them again, since they don't really heat up much (giving it maybe 40 seconds), but they do become extremely soft for a few seconds.

Any thoughts on this? I'm not even sure I'm thoroughly cleaning them, and I wonder if I'm inadvertently melting the smooth ends, which might explain why they become so stiff. Yet I don't see any obvious signs of damage.

 

[KPOT]

It is very good to clean foamies with hydrogen peroxide. You should place em in the cup of peroxide and leave em there for 5-10 minutes. Then simply go and wash foamies with warm water.