Bose Headphone Replacement Ear Pads - How To

This tutorial will show you how to replace the ear pads and headband on Bose noise canceling headphones. This tutorial will show the process on Bose QuietComfort 2 (QC 2) headphones. The process will be similar on Bose QC 15 and other models.

I've had my Bose QC2 headphones for over 10 years now. I don't use them a lot but they work great. Over the years, the material dries out and creates a mess of black flakes when you use the headphones.

Old, dried out material

The solution? Replace the ear pads and headband. Bose.com sells replacement ear pads but I couldn't find pads for the QC2 that I have. Other models were close to $35. They don't sell the headbands at all, more on that later.

So I went to Amazon and found this bundle for around $16 (affiliate link). It includes two ear pads and one headband. Deal! I didn't expect much in terms of quality, but I was shocked at how nice and soft they are when they arrived.

Ear Pad Replacement
These are surprisingly easy to change out and need no tools at all. The old pads will pull right out. It's best to pull them in towards the center and out so you don't break the tabs that hold them in. Go slow, be gentle.

Old on the left, new on the right

Popping in replacements is just as easy. Go slow, it requires some patience. Put one in place and pop them under the tiny tabs. I did this by pulling them just a little into the center while pushing down. Do one tab and then the opposite tab. Repeat until done. Easy and like new again.

Head Band Replacement
The headband is easy as well, but not as neat. You'll need to cut the old headband off first. I did this with scissors, being careful not to cut the tiny wire that runs through the headband.

Cut the headband off, but don't snip this wire

I unscrewed the plastic end caps but later found out this was not needed. The replacement kit (affiliate link) I bought zips on. The problem is that the zipper makes it bulkier and now it doesn't fit under those plastic end caps. This is why taking those off is pointless with the kit I bought.

Not as pretty as it could be

The finished headband isn't as neat as the original as you have messy ends now, but it's not enough to bother me. Other bands, like this one (affiliate link), will include new end caps that are larger. In that case you unscrew the old caps and screw on the news caps. It's not difficult to do this and you can see how that looks in the images I've included above.

Conclusion
Replacing your Bose noise canceling headphone ear pads and headband is a pretty simple and straightforward process. For the headband, do you go for the cheap option that is a bit ugly or the (affiliate link) better looking, but more costly, option (affiliate link)? That's your choice!

The final result