Poor-man's Earbud Replacement covers from Ear Plug

 I had 2 pairs of ear buds lying around that had lost the little rubber covers, the part that goes in your ears, making them useless. I could have order the replacements from amazon for $5 bucks, but I thought I would save some dough, and come up with a DIY solution. So I used some Flents foam Earplugs from Walmart, and now have a lifetime of replacement covers that guarantee a nice comfy fit every time!

I am really pleased with how great these work because there made of memory foam so they expand to the size of your ear canal, keeping noise out and beats in!

Step 1 Materials

 1. Earplugs $2.98 walmart 10-pair 
 2. Soldering Iron in skinning tip or Lighter, Finishing nail, and pliers
 3. Scissors

*Tip - Look for earplugs with a higher Noise Rating. The Flents Quiet time ear plugs are NR33, which will have a similar effect as noise cancelling headphones, but cheap!
 

Comments

[yhiro]

You could buy some at DealExtreme for a dollar o_O

[fidgety2]

genius i love it it saved me so much time and money plus this actually feels better than the covers that came with my earbuds 5/5!!!!!!!

[Araym6]

I suppose burning a hole would work quite nice yes, but as a warning, some brands of earplugs smell horrible when they burn. Nothing serious, but... It just smells really bad. Great instructable though!

[bassbindevil]

If you squeeze the earplug flat first, you can make the hole with a hole punch.  The adjustable kind used by leather crafters is perfect (like chuckeaves suggested), or you could make one from a piece of metal tubing with one end filed sharp (like a piece of car radio antenna, or a metal pen body).

[JoeMurphy]

 good call

[chuckeaves]

Just made some of these couple weeks ago.  Used a pliers type leather leather punch to make the hole instead of a soldering iron.  Works great.  Great minds think alike.  ;)

[reptedjess]

Thanks for letting me know my ears are nasty and I need to buy q-tips. lol
Nifty idea too, btw. I was needing this for my rocketfish headset

[cjbjetz]

i tried this and the melting foam actually stuck together, keeping the earbud closed after the first time rolling it, did you encounter this problem?

[luvit]

 i bought'd some on ebay for $3 after shipping.

[struckbyanarrow]

i kept losing them so i superglued them to the earbuds!

[TheWelfareWarrior]

But do they stay on as well?

[JoeMurphy]

Yes.
They stay in/on while running, which is a pretty good test. 

[TheBlackSharpie]

Great Idea I had the same problem!