Hard or soft custom earplugs: material, colour and which one suits you

We make custom earplugs in two materials: hard acrylic and soft silicone. With many models you choose yourself, and then the question usually follows: what’s the difference? Below you can read what each material does well, which one suits your use, which products come in which material and which colours you can choose.

Hard custom earmoulds: acrylic

We make hard custom earplugs from acrylic. That’s a hard, smooth plastic. Thanks to the smooth surface the earplugs slide in and out of your ear easily, and they’re simple to clean, even when there’s some residue on them after long wear.

Acrylic is also comfortable in warm conditions. That’s why we often recommend a hard version to people who work in a bakery or a hot production hall, for example. The material hardly wears and lasts a long time.

The downside: acrylic doesn’t give. If a hard earplug is just slightly tight in one spot, it can start to press after long wear, think of more than five hours in a row. A good fit is therefore extra important, and that’s what our 6-month comfort guarantee is for.

Soft custom earmoulds: silicone

We make soft custom earplugs from silicone. It’s flexible and moves with your ear canal, which changes shape slightly when you talk and chew. That’s why silicone usually takes less getting used to.

Silicone sits comfortably under a motorcycle helmet (see our motorcycle earplugs and music and navigation on a motorcycle), a cap or headphones, because there’s no hard edge pressing against your ear. Flying with a Bose headset? Then we also make custom sleeves for the Bose ProFlight. And if you sleep on your side, soft material is really a must: that’s why we always make our sleeping earplugs from silicone. Musicians often choose silicone because they wear their earplugs for hours.

Silicone also lasts for years with good care. You clean it with lukewarm water and a mild soap; how best to do that, you can read in how to clean earplugs.

How soft is soft? Shore A explained

The hardness of silicone is expressed in Shore A, a scale for soft materials such as rubber and silicone. The higher the number, the harder. The silicone of the Audinc Fly, for example, has a hardness of 40 Shore A: soft enough to give, firm enough to seal the ear canal properly. For sleeping earplugs we also have an extra soft version. Acrylic is a hard plastic and falls outside the Shore A scale. The short answer is also in our FAQ on the material of custom earplugs.

Hard and soft earplugs side by side

Does your voice sound different? The occlusion effect

With any earplug that seals your ear canal, your own voice can sound a little hollow or muffled, as if you’re talking with your fingers in your ears. That’s called the occlusion effect. It depends mainly on the fit, how deep the earplug sits in your ear canal and the ventilation, not on the material. So a soft earplug doesn’t automatically sound more natural than a hard one. Why depth makes such a difference, you can read in earplugs too deep in your ear.

Which product comes in which material?

Not every model is available in both materials. This is the current situation per product:

Not sure? During the fitting you can hold both materials and compare them. How that appointment goes, you can read in fitting earplugs: how it works.

Which colour earplugs do you choose?

Besides the material, you also choose the colour. Soft silicone offers the widest choice. For most models these are the standard colours:

The colour swatches give an impression; during the fitting you see the real colour samples. For an extra charge, soft silicone also comes in glitter, in blue, gold, pink or purple. Hard acrylic comes in transparent, red, blue and black. Exactly which colours are available differs per product; you’ll see them when you configure your earplugs on the product page.

A few choices that come up often:

• Transparent is the least noticeable. You can see the filter inside the earplug.
• Beige is close to a skin tone, so it’s discreet too.
• Red on the right, blue on the left makes it easy to tell your left and right earplug apart, handy if you take them in and out a lot.
• A bright colour such as yellow, orange or blue is quick to find if you drop an earplug. In the workplace, especially in the food industry, that’s a practical advantage.

Having custom earplugs made

Want hard or soft custom earplugs? See all models at custom earplugs, or book an appointment: you can feel both materials, look at the colour samples and choose together with us what suits your use.