[verticalforce]

I made a mistake of washing (read: drowning) my shure black foamies in freezing cold water and now it won't compressed anymore. It expands way too quickly (faster than I can say poop) and the rubber has somewhat becomes well...too elastic and won't fit in my ears. I stored them with drying agent (the one found in shoes or food packaging) in a box overnight too, but i doubted that made any difference.

I should have just wiped them gently, oh well, I have another 4 foamies anyway.

Just letting people know...

 

[LaBreaHead]

Is "shrinkage" an issue?

Anyway, thanks for the advice ... I just received my Shure foamies in the mail at work today. I look forward to trying them out.

 

[Lord Chaos]

I've been through this with other foam earplugs. What has really happened is that you got the foam full of water and then squeezed. The water ruptured the tiny cells, so now they expand too quickly.

The solution is, if they get wet, don't squeeze. Just gently dry the surface and then leave them in a dry place. I find that the top of a Benchmark DAC1 is just perfect for drying out foam earplugs.

It's gently warm.

 

[Ahobaka]

I did a similliar mistake when washing my first pair, they became rather stiff and didn't fit very well.

I just wash them with hot water and it works out quite well. As for drying I just take a hairdryer, works wonders if you mount the foamies on something that has a nice fit in the opening (and you don't burn your own fingers

).

 

[alpha80]

Just wait til they turn into Dinosaurs tommorrow...

 

[kramer5150]

They should put a warning on the packaging somewhere. Most urethane foam earplugs and tips will do this when you use water and soak/wash them. PVC earplugs and tips (like the old shure e2c foamies) are different in that you can soak and scrub them clean without any problems.

 

[nickknutson]

Why did you wash them in freezing cold water?

 

[Shurado]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickknutson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why did you wash them in freezing cold water?

He used the money for the heating bill on more audio equipment.

I was thinking about getting these new tips for my E4s. I'm glad I read this thread first.

 

[Spyro]

Black foamies are really durable and resistant to oils/waxes.

They are a great invention. Way to go Shure!!

 

[Wildcard30]

Thanks for the tip it is about time for me to clean mine.