How To Custom Paint Your Airpods Case In 3 Easy Steps
Anyone who has a pair of AirPods may wonder at some point if they can make them more personalized by painting the outer case a different color than white. Applying paint to an AirPod case sounds like a great way to customize them, but knowing how to do it correctly is important. AirPods are expensive, and doing anything to the case that may affect their performance is something that should be a concern to any AirPod owner.
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Can you custom paint your AirPod Case?
You can custom paint your AirPod case by following these 3 simple steps:
- Choose the right paint for your case
- Choose the right design and color that reflects your personality
- Apply your chosen paint to the outside of the case
As the popularity of AirPods continues to grow, it makes it more challenging for each of us to identify which ones are ours, especially if we live or work with other people who love AirPods as much as we do.
Having the ability to customize our AirPod case with a certain design or paint color seems like a great solution to being able to tell our AirPods from everyone else’s. But, AirPods are expensive, and we certainly don’t want to do something that may compromise their functionality. But, if you follow my steps, you can easily paint your AirPod case and add some personality to one of your favorite gadgets!
I love combining art and function. AirPods are such a fun, practical and handy accessory to have, but figuring out a way to make them easily recognizable while also being creative with them has been something I’ve enjoyed learning.
You, too, can customize your AirPods with just a little money and time. Let me show you how.
How Can I Custom Paint My AirPods Case?
AirPods first hit the market in 2016 and have been in huge demand ever since. They are, by far, Apple’s most popular accessory.
Though many imitations have come out since then, these wireless headphones set the stage for Bluetooth-enabled headphones that allow the user to listen to music, podcasts, and various other audio recordings without needing wires attached to a phone or other audio device.
These tiny headphones are also amazingly discreet and allow you to conduct a phone conversation with little background noise interfering and don’t distract from the quality of your phone call.
There are a few downsides to AirPods. One is that they are expensive. Even the older models still can cost as much as $100, and the newer generations can run upwards of $200, depending on where you purchase them.
Another big downside is that the case is small and easy to misplace or confuse with someone else’s. Even though you don’t need your AirPod case in order to use your AirPods, you don’t want to lose it, or have someone mistake it for their own.
The way you charge your AirPods is by inserting them into the holes inside the case. Each hole is specific to each AirPod…the left AirPod goes in the left hole, and the right AirPod goes in the right one.
Misplacing or losing your AirPod case means you won’t be able to charge the AirPods, which will make them inoperable.
One way to ensure that you don’t lose track of your AirPod case is to buy a cover for it. These can be cool, but are also not necessarily unique to your gadget.
A better way of customizing your AirPods is to paint the case. This is not only a great way to identify which one is yours, but it’s also a fun way to give your favorite Apple accessory a taste of your personality.
Just make sure that – if you’re going to custom paint your AirPod case you follow the steps I’ve outlined for you. Damaging your AirPod case with paint could make the interior of it malfunction, which will make your AirPods themselves obsolete.
1. Choose the Right Paint for Your Case
Let’s start talking about custom painting your AirPods case by talking about paint in general.
AirPods cases are made out of a polycarbonate plastic that is smooth to the touch and super durable. This allows your AirPods to stay protected, and keep all the interior parts functioning, even when a case is dropped, stepped on, or even put through a washing machine.
That said, this type of plastic isn’t always the easiest to paint. Since its surface is so slick, most paints won’t adhere to it properly and will eventually peel, run or flake off.
If you want to permanently customize the outside look of your AirPod case, you should choose an acrylic paint when deciding what you want to do to the outside of your case.
Acrylic paints come in a vast range of colors. Not only will an acrylic paint give you lots of room for creativity, but they will also be safe to use on your AirPod case and won’t cause any damage to it.
And though it isn’t recommended to paint the inside of the case, if a bit of Acrylic paint gets on the interior of your case, it should not harm it, as long as you wipe it off quickly.
Acrylic paints are water-based, so leaving them on an area that shouldn’t be exposed to water is not ideal. But, because they are not oil-based, they are easier to remove and aren’t toxic for humans or animals to be near.
2. Choose the Right Design and Color that Reflects Your Personality
Once you’ve chosen the paint you want to use for your AirPod case, the next decision you need to make is what sort of design and/or color(s) do you wish to use on your gadget.
An AirPod case is like a blank slate. Granted, a small blank slate, but a slate nonetheless.
Think about what you want your paint job to say about you. Do you want it to be flashy? Funny? Do you have a certain saying you want to announce to the world or a mood you want to project?
Do you lean more toward classic colors or want a wild ombre approach?
Whatever mood you are going for, try and come up with it before you start your paint job.
Like I mentioned before, those little AirPods cases are exactly that…little. So, even if you are Picasso, there isn’t a lot of room for artsy-error on those guys. And trying to remove the paint once you’ve placed it can be a challenge as well.
If you don’t think through your color scheme and design ahead of time, you may have one big mess when you are done.
Another reason to pre-plan your design and color on your AirPods – paint can be expensive and hard to store.
Buying too much or the wrong color can limit your budget and garage or craft room space.
Try to figure out the overall look you want before you start customizing your AirPod case. Your budget (and precious time!) will thank you later.
3. Apply Your Chosen Paint to the Outside of the Case
Now that you’ve decided what type of paint to use and what design (and color) you want, it’s time to start painting!
Make sure your AirPod case is dry and the headphones are not inside it. (Most versions of Apple AirPods aren’t fully waterproof, so it’s best to avoid getting any sort of liquid substance inside of them.
Apply your paint slowly, using a small brush for details. If you are going to apply more than one coat, let the first coat fully dry before beginning with the second one.
Another trick is to paint the backside of your AirPod case first. Though most AirPod owners don’t favor one side over the other, you can choose one side to be your “practice” canvas, and use the other to be your “masterpiece.”
Above all, have fun with your AirPod case creation! All that really matters is that it reflects who you are!