Poor-man's Earbud Replacement Covers From Ear Plug

by JoeMurphy

73K3717

Intro: 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!

STEP 2: Cut Earplug

Cut off the tip of the earplugs using scissors. You want to aim for the same length as the plastic that needs to be covers on the ear buds.

STEP 3: Burn Hold in Earplugs

***Carefully*** use something hot, sharp, and pointy to burn a hole through the center of the earplug.   

STEP 4: Put on Earbuds

Let the burnt holes cool. Then force them on to your ear buds the tighter the better. I did not have to use any glue and the are firmly in-place.

Go ahead and make a few extra while your at it, your ears are nasty goo traps so replace often or buy some freaking q tips. 

16 Comments

bassbindevil 14 years ago

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).

thecrowartist 1 year ago

Thanks I have a leather hole punch so can use that. I’m so glad I found this site. I’ve just been trying to buy some covers but everything is on line now and takes ages to get to Newfoundland! I want them today not in several years time! I shall make my own.

CreativeGeek 8 years ago

Might try this with some 3M E-A-R Classic earplugs.

jsearcy51 9 years ago

I made mine by freezing the foam plugs first. Even without getting them wet, they get pretty hard. Makes it real easy to cut them with an xacto and then I used a dremel with a small drill bit to cut hole through the foam while still frozen.

yhiro 12 years ago

You could buy some at DealExtreme for a dollar o_O

fidgety2 13 years ago

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 14 years ago

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!

chuckeaves 14 years ago

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 14 years ago

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 14 years ago

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 14 years ago

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

struckbyanarrow 14 years ago

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

JoeMurphy 14 years ago

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