Help me dye my headphones black.

September 15, 2005 11:13 AM

Is there a good way to dye my iPod earbuds black?

I have a black nano, and I love it, but I hate having these white earphones and other cords that don't match....it feels so much less sleek....I thought about plastic dye of some sort, but it's two different kinds of plastic, so I thought maybe one of you had tried it...

posted by nile_red to technology (20 comments total)

I can't see any way to make them black that won't end up eventually turning your inner ear black too. You could just purchase some black headphones, they are more easily available than white ones afterall.
posted by fire&wings at 11:27 AM on September 15, 2005

Someone I know colored his earbuds with a black magic marker, and that worked suprisingly well. Make sure it's permanent, and redo it every now and again. It isn't exactly sleek, but it acomplished his goal of "not having obvious white earbuds."
posted by dpx.mfx at 11:27 AM on September 15, 2005

dpx.mfx - with a sharpie?
posted by nile_red at 11:27 AM on September 15, 2005

I'm no expert, but I would tend to think it would be enough effort, and probably expense, to properly dye the cords and earbuds black, that you might as well just go out and buy black ones. It's not as though the ones that come with the iPod are that good. And finding decent black earphones is pretty easy—just go to your nearest Best Buy.
posted by cerebus19 at 11:28 AM on September 15, 2005

If you cover the actual speaker part, you could maybe try Krylon Fusion, a spray paint specifically designed for plastic. Samples I've seen on plastic lawn furniture seem pretty awesome - no cracking.

But that's just a guess - I've never tried it.

Tough as others have mentioned, buying a new pair of black earphones would probably be a lot easier. I have Sony MDR-EX71s, which are awesome.
posted by GuyZero at 11:49 AM on September 15, 2005

Yes, buy black ones. The white ipod earbuds are crap anyway. I recommend these.
posted by drobot at 11:51 AM on September 15, 2005

I second the MDR-EX71s.
posted by mr.dan at 12:07 PM on September 15, 2005

I think it would be a lot easier just to buy earbuds that are already black.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:18 PM on September 15, 2005

Am I the only one who is somewhat suprised the normally design-concious Apple didn't have black headphones to go with the black iPod? Were they including white headphones with the Black U2 iPod too?

I Nth "get new headphones." Sharpie would probably mark the cables marginally well but I don't think anything will color the plug & earphones acceptably.
posted by phearlez at 12:28 PM on September 15, 2005

To reiterate everything that has been said: the included earbuds suck in the first place; buy new ones.
posted by fourstar at 12:38 PM on September 15, 2005

There's this plastic-coating stuff for tool handles that you can pick up at any hardware store. It comes in a can like tennis balls do, only smaller, and it's available in black. You dip the object in to the stuff, and the coating dries to a semi-solid rubbery consistency. This would work for the wire part of your headphones fairly well. It would be more difficult to apply to the earbuds themselves.
posted by odinsdream at 12:48 PM on September 15, 2005

Just get new headphones, but if you really like the included ones, how about black electrical tape?
posted by gyc at 12:52 PM on September 15, 2005

TRASH THEM, GET NEW
posted by ernie at 1:58 PM on September 15, 2005

"I have white iPod buds, I want them to turn black/
No colors anymore, I want them painted black."

/Rolling Stones

Chances are, they'll come out with black buds soon. Wait till then, or just get new headphones.
posted by me3dia at 2:59 PM on September 15, 2005

Krylon Fusion will do it. Clings to our Rubbermaid mailbox like an SOB. But don't skimp on surface preparation: clean them well with a cloth moistened with 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and water.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:29 PM on September 15, 2005

Yikes! Seems as though Apple would have thought include black buds and cord seeing as they went to the trouble of producing the sleek Nano in black along with the standard, "sano" white variety. I'll bet by the time I get this posted, a third party vendor will have the matching black set ready for sale. Even The Steve said there were over 1,000 third party iPod accessories currently available - and that was LAST week! In the mean time, if you're that desparate, I say dip the white ones in a can of that black rubberized-type coating paint they sell at the hardware store. They'll fit better(S-N-U-G), will be water proof and last through any weather conditions know to man. :-) Good luck. The B
posted by thebarron at 9:35 PM on September 15, 2005

Yikes! Seems as though Apple would have thought to include black buds and cord seeing as they went to the trouble of producing the sleek Nano in black along with the standard, "sano" white variety. I'll bet by the time I get this posted, a third party vendor will have the matching black set ready for sale. Even The Steve said there were over 1,000 third party iPod accessories currently available - and that was LAST week! In the mean time, if you're that desparate, I say dip the white ones in a can of that black rubberized-type coating paint they sell at the hardware store. They'll fit better(S-N-U-G), will be water proof and last through any weather conditions know to man. :-) Good luck. The B
posted by thebarron at 9:36 PM on September 15, 2005

This is useful for those of us stuck with white non-ipod buds, too. I bought a pair of decent headphones a while ago, but the only ones I could get in the style that suited me best (ear plug type) were white. I was thinking about this very question during the week.
posted by tomble at 6:17 AM on September 16, 2005

BTW, the MDR-EX71s mentioned above are in-ear headphones, like Apple's In-Ear Headphones, as opposed to the original iPod ones which are earbuds.
posted by smackfu at 6:45 AM on September 16, 2005

Odinsdream is talking about Plasti-dip, which is cool stuff, but not a good solution.

I'd use leather or vinyl dye, something like this. But yeah.. just buy'em black
posted by Jack Karaoke at 10:43 AM on September 16, 2005