Fixing Headphones with REAL LEATHER

Repairing the ear cushions and headband on my Bose over ear headphones with some beautiful leather. Yes, you could spend $20 on perfect, boring, fake leather factory-made replacement ear cushions, but this is more fun.
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#DIY #repair #leathercraft

[@ThoughtFission]

I know this is an old video so you may not care, but... If you wet the leather and stretch it over a rigid form (3D printed works well), you should have an exact fit for the leather cover. Lots of KZbin videos showing how to do this.

[@SianaGearz]

I care! Have you seen someone do actual headphone cushions with this method though? I don't think the way he did it would be acceptable for me, looking at the result. Perfect for the headband, not good enough for the ear cushions. Was thinking of doing them 3 piece, flat endpieces and just a rectangular band to connect them, and sewn. But it needs to be a thinner more pliable material regardless, like sheep skin. But yeah 3D printing a mould to stretch wet leather over, that does sound like something i'd like to try.

[@ThoughtFission]

@SianaGearz yes, I have seen it for headphones :) But it was a while ago. There are lots of videos on KZbin about using forms to stretch wet leather.

[@SianaGearz]

@@ThoughtFission Now if it was possible to actually FIND on KZbin something that one is searching for, wouldn't it be nice?

[@ThoughtFission]

@@SianaGearz 🤣

[@ThoughtFission]

@@SianaGearz Here's one example. I found a bunch of others too. It's not for headphones but I think it gives you the idea of how to do it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZPEkKpvoaunqZIsi=5J0Gs7VLVSaPUreN

[@chriscain2563]

It’s so nice to see someone actually repair something. What a great job you did mate.

[@jack0cat]

The most beautiful things are the things we create to serve our own needs and if someone else wants one... well there you have it. That baseball stitch was fantastic.

[@MorleyKert]

Thank you! The baseball stitch was my favorite part.

[@Ianmundo]

I’m onto my 4th set of QC35 earpads, third-party replacements are only $15 and last 2-3 years of daily use. Saying that, you did a superb job with the headband, that part isn’t sold for DIY replacement

[@MorleyKert]

Thanks! Cost effectiveness wasn’t really the motivation for this project as much as the love of making something unique 😊

[@andreivoinescu9364]

you could have made the leather cup out of 4 parts to keep it deep so the ear lobe would not touch the driver. also by applying a heavi coat of contact cement and pressing it hard on the foam collapsed the foam structure so they are not as soft. also by using 4 parts you could have skived the leather then folded each side of the excess back on the material to keep somewhat of a consintent leather thickness. i am not a leatherworker and haven't moded any headphones (i mainly fixed a pair constantly for about a year because the cable sleve started to peel), but i am trying to give constructive feedback based on all the youtube binge watching i did for the past 10 years

[@karmatenzin4218]

Wow!! How smart you are?

[@imqqmi]

Very nice result! I was wondering if it would be possible to make a mold for wet leather and shape a cup that way. Maybe 3d print a donut bowl and something to press with. Clamp it in until dry. Some paper towels to wick away the moisture.

[@brandonhultgren5776]

I really appreciate this video. Also, thank you for showing your errors! It was wonderful to see you thinking through the process.

[@Patrick_Gibney]

whoa, weird. I tried doing this exact thing a few days ago and wound up throwing in the towel. Kudos on getting it done! They look great!

[@MorleyKert]

Hope you’re able to overhaul your headphones as well! Thanks 😊

[@Patrick_Gibney]

@@MorleyKert update: made it happen! went with fabric instead of leather, but I'm happy with em

[@MorleyKert]

Whoop whoop! 💯

[@ViciousPikachu]

@@Patrick_Gibney which fabric?

[@zedokaiba6047]

the holes are for ventilating the foam so it goes back up as the foam require a small amount of air to be present to expand and contract.

[@khizarbinqasim837]

thats what i love about the stuff we modify : the one and only piece in the world .

[@ariamakesvideos803]

We need to bring back repairing stuff. I have a pair of Skullcandy Hesh 3s that I've had for ages; they still work great, still work on Bluetooth and everything. The only problem is, the earpads are split at many of the seams, and one of the plastic struts has snapped. Planning to repair the strut with contact cement actually (I was planning on that even prior to watching this video; you do like your contact cement!) and this video gave me the confidence to go ahead and take apart the earpads and try to fix them. Was able to fix one of them pretty easily just by taking it apart, turning inside out, and resewing the seams. TBH, repairing stuff is not as hard as some people make it out to be, and it's a great option when I don't have $60+ to drop on a new pair of comparable headphones. Thanks for sharing your own headphone repairing experiments with us!

[@jenniferlachs7145]

I love this! Thank you so much for sharing this, I am going to try fixing my boyfriend's headphones. He almost bought a whole new pair (didn't know about the replacement cushions). This is so inspiring to see people fix stuff!

[@giorassiccuriosity3179]

loving the baseball stitching on the headband!

[@SuburbanBeard]

my ear muffs did the same thing. i bought third party replacements and they ar horrible! my original foam is in great shape but i am never able to figure out how to fix a lot of stuff like this but your video has helped!!

[@MorleyKert]

Glad it helped, thanks for watching!

[@Jezz_Mcfly]

You Sir - are a genius ! I have some headphones with the same issue and some soft leather. I was trying to sew my old covers - but you have just shown me the way to make my own. Plus saving me forking out for new ones that won't last as long. Double WIN! Thanks ✌

[@RestoreTechnique]

Need to revive my headphones too. After seeing how hard it is to work with leather I think I'll go with faux leather. Good perseverance mate 👍

[@rodolfoptx]

There is thinner leather available on the market, just look for leather for clothing articles.

[@RestoreTechnique]

@@rodolfoptx ok cheers

[@sfmedina06]

Art Attack adult version vibes!

[@indigotears]

I liked the baseball stitch on the headband it looks really cool

[@otherdogdesign8666]

This one has a very different feel from your other videos. It's cool to see you experiment with your format. I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with your video production.

[@MorleyKert]

Different in a good way? Thanks for coming along for the ride!

[@air2farce]

More of a question then a comment. In the past I have worked with leather quite a bit. This water based adhesive from LePage you utilize, does not discolour the leather at all? And also how do it affect the foam innards? Does it harden the foam ( if so, how much hardening took place (over time)). Thanks very much for your time and I look forward to your response. Great job BTW.

[@cenen7021]

Now those are very expensive hand made pads.

[@jm389017]

Dude, I have headphones just like this and I've been meaning to look for something just LIKE THIS. Reddit and you surprised me today.

[@MorleyKert]

Glad I could make the video you’re looking for! 😊

Hello my friend, recycling and pleasure. I also like to use waste materials. Thank you for this beautiful sharing. see you later. All the best.

[@MorleyKert]

Thanks for watching!

@@MorleyKert see you.

[@benzhang3913]

Nice idea and bad leathercraft. Thank you for sharing this!❤

[@davebauerart]

I love this! I’m going to have to find some leather to do the same.

[@MorleyKert]

Thanks Dave!

[@chemohdridwanchejaafar813]

Nice touch with brown leather.. Good work buddy! Thumbs up to you!

[@FullmetalJun]

Apart from B&O, I don't know any other brands which use good real leather. They all use pleather which is in fact shitty plastic which degrade quickly. Wish I could get one of these

[@yimuwood]

Thanks for sharing!!!!! It is really helpful!

[@ge2719]

this started happening to my razer nari headphones so i'm probably going to need to make real leather replacements some time. From replacing the leather on my computer chair i learnt that sheep skin is a lot thinner, more like a regular fabric. has stretch to it and you can sew it with a regular sewing machine. A thick hide leather like you used here will last a long long time but is probably excessive for this purpose. plus the sheepskin is a lot softer. its what is used on leather clothing, jackets etc. and you can buy it in a whole pelt for about £20-£30 depending on the size of the pelt.

[@Manyulatgr]

11:45 great job!!! you are totally correct!!! Beautiful

[@mlob535]

Wow! That looks amazing!! Love the look! Thank you for sharing!!

[@radicalgreek99]

I have a pair of expensive studio headphones I love and I was worried about having to replace them because they don't make them like they use to. I did what you did but went with moisture wicking material for the ear pieces and the headband. I also replaced the foam with some more dense foam so they fit like new and don't have to be replaced in the Next 10 years of use. I will try it with leather on some vintage studio headphones I have because it would fit the look of the headphones.

[@cmcg1190]

I wonder if the cement collapses the cells in the memory foam?

[@BeeWhere]

Reddit sent me, cool project.

[@MorleyKert]

Thank you!

[@denisechisholm]

Thanks so much for sharing this. I have some Skullz headphones that been around for at least 5 years. They are so wonderful & I didn't want to get rid of them just because the ear pads were worn out. You save me! 💚🤭

[@SianaGearz]

Thanks to this video, i got some very good ideas how not to do it and that i need to do it differently.

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Cool, it's best to cover it with real leather and we must learn how to do this properbly. Thank s.

[@liamsmith8518]

I know you probably won't see this, but you didn't really need to do the holes on the bottom for acoustics since changing the material the pad is made of that already changes the sound (probably quite drastically) so you don't only change the look but you also made your own unique sounding headphones

[@MorleyKert]

Good to know, thanks!

[@willo7979]

I’m in. I’m a fan of having genuine leather, however, I’m a little concerned with sweat-soaking in summer, or long term wearing it.

[@illojuan5907]

an other thing is that the best glue to use with leather is contact glue and if its the kind that you can activate with heat is the best option. by the way you can activate it on your stove and you dont need a special oven. i hope all this comments can help you in the future :)

[@illojuan5907]

i think you cut so much when you cut for the curves (leather) if you check the way shoes were made you can notice you can pull leather (stretch it) and one thing is that the edges would be a lot nicer if you skive them . but in general it is a acceptable result :)

[@motskit4250]

Nice work .... Please I have a question though I cleaned my head set with mentholated sprit and since then I can’t use them to make calls What should I do?????

[@Tom_-]

I was thinking why not just leave the headband uncovered, as it looks ok as the bare frame (and considering now light those look I don't think it would be uncomfortable) but the baseball stitch looked so nice, it was definitely worth the effort.

[@MorleyKert]

Thank you!

[@LeiSolar]

Thank you so much it was very helpful 💖💖💖

[@regferraris]

I wonder if you could have stitched instead of using cement glue? I am not an expert hence the question.

[@marcio2k1]

I was looking for similar content and yours was very good, I have some suggestions, I could have used a more malleable (thin) synthetic leather on the pads! Note: I used a translator!😅 Success!🤗

[@danielbaboiu2288]

Gluing the outer part of the leather ring, the split parts that get to overlap due to getting to a smaller diameter, would work better if you glue first every other strip, then put cement on the already glued part, then glue in the remaining strips. Ideas come better when watching others doing the job rather than when doing it directly...

[@BlueBirdBaby]

Very creative. I am looking into making my own ps5 ear muff replacement

[@SuburbanBeard]

im finally going out to get fabric for my headphones lol. going to see what i can find that feels nice! i have the plantronics backbeat pro 2 and i am goign to try to make them look "retro" i want ot find orange fabric, so they can have the old walkman look

[@SuburbanBeard]

i would do a video on it, but sadly no one watches my how to videos hahah (gotta feed the algo!)

[@unionics]

You should try it with soft PU leather.

[@ge2719]

pu leather is the problem, it delaminates within a year or two. sheep skin would be best for this. its typically under 1mm thick and so has some stretch to it, is easier to curve around shapes and sew like regular fabric

[@Kozio235]

Good project but major cringe for my inner audiophile lol.

[@TechnologyHell]

Rip comfort

[@ShamblerDK]

1. You need better leather scissors. 2. Should change the foam to some high quality memory foam.

[@120m30]

What kind of Bose headphones are these?

[@MorleyKert]

I’m honestly not sure - I got them about 6 years ago and they don’t have a model number visible. It’s one of the non noise cancelling models, around $100 new

[@erayyalcn8005]

The Flintstones...

[@belsonkoshy7884]

Should have made a four piece wrap (Top Donut, Bottom Donut, Inner Ring and Outer Ring).. You'll lose a lot of cushioning by gluing the foam everywhere..

[@elisangelaoliveira1071]

Legal. Estou querendo fazer isso no meu mas com tecido.

[@shuttlebadminton24]

Good hardwork brother but the cushions have become little harder now... But that's okay. You didn't just buy new one and made your own.

[@violentsense]

Why not just glue the headphones to your ears with contact cement? :D It's even more fun!

[@thee_kweens_empire]

Real leather does stretch it just needs to be soaked in some water first

[@i_1mpuls3]

Head furnace

[@DayanandhanSubramani]

:D got a idea for noise cancelling :D : :D :D will try this out

[@DayanandhanSubramani]

and a stritching design is awesome will try that too :)

[@davestevens4193]

No highs, no lows, must be Bose.

[@unwisebobcat624]

Can u do mine next? Haha

[@OkaHajime]

when i smoke weed i cant see real leather

[@dicarlos01]

Quedaron de la berg

[@BASSFISHINGMIC]

Clearly not a leather smith

[@plkh9602]

it sound like a 3d printer

[@Xeno_of_Luyten]

these headsets are not built to last in humid climates. faux leather takes less than a year to totally disintegrate and the plastic spine breaks to make it almost unusable. I probably either buying pricier sets with real leather or just earbuds.

[@XdekHckr]

for me it just doesn't fit and it's ugly...

[@bradparker6156]

Yeah right... So you need to be master at working with leather to even have a hope. 2 m^2 of leather and a liter of adhesive + a few days later. Still impressive. Don't suppose you take orders? If you do, it'll certainly cost > 10x the value of the headphone set..

[@EddiXP]

My bose headphones look exactly like yours haha

[@user-mv1qu3kb9t]

so so)

[@lastfighter216]

berbat olmuş. emeğine yazık.

[@tanial.williamson8082]

Add to the number of cows that are killed for stupid reasons.

[@debaduttamishra6669]

If you can make a solid mould out of the headphone foam, you can make the leather just sit perfectly.. And one more thing, leather is not too comfortable for a long contact with the skin, but some good quality fabric

[@TheGrantAlexander]

Per the comment on instagram. I leave here disappointed (as always when I am the spark)

[@MorleyKert]

Thanks for the spark!

[@TheGrantAlexander]

@@MorleyKert We should have a spark counter on your channel ;)