If you don’t have pierced ears, chances are, you don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to the variety of earrings available to you.
Fortunately, it is possible to convert regular earrings to clip-on earrings at home. We’ll teach you how to make clip-on earrings. Comfortable clip-on earrings can be a part of your daily fashion – you don’t have to make do with the limited selections online and in stores.
Converting Regular Earrings to Comfortable Clip-on Earrings
The first step is to purchase earring converters. Earring converters are available online from jewelry stores, jewelry supply stores, and craft stores. Try to find a converter that has a tubular attachment on the port side.
If you are buying online, it would be a good idea to purchase several sizes of earring converters as the tubes will differ in sizes and there’s a good chance that some of the earrings you want to convert will not fit. Variety is key to successful conversions in this case.
Types of Earring Converters
There are two kinds of earring converters on the market. The first one is called a bend converter. This is how you use can use a bend earring converter on a regular earring:
- Remove the earring back of the earring you wish to convert
- Push the post into the tubular holder upside down
- Using a pair of fine long-nose pliers, slowly and gently bend the earring downward
- The head of the earring should stand parallel to the tubular holder
- If all is successful, you should be able to wear your new earrings without the earring falling off, since the entry point of the tubular holder will be on top
If you do not like to use a bend earring converter, you can use one that requires the earring backs to lock the earrings in place. Here’s how you can use this type of earring converter:
- No bend converters have a shorter tubular holder so you can lock the earring in place.
- Insert the earring and gently push the earring back in place, making sure that the tightness of the lock is ideal to hold the earring for the whole day.
- If the earrings wiggle, it’s possible that the earring backs you are using do not have sufficient friction, and they should probably be replaced.
- If you need to replace friction-type earring backs, be sure to purchase a pack of new ones, to make sure that you will not lose your earrings.
- This type of earring converter will place the head of your earrings well below your earlobe. You have the option to position the actual clip higher up if you want.
- Periodically check the tightness of the earring backs throughout the day to make sure that the earrings aren’t about to fall off.
Clip-on Dangling Earrings
What if you are interested in converting dangling earrings? Don’t despair – they can be adapted so they will become comfortable clip-on earrings as well!
What you will need in the conversion are fish hook earring converters. Instead of tubular holders, fish hook earring converters have a small hole at the side where the dangling earrings can be installed. Here are the steps:
- Get a pair of long-nose pliers. Examine the dangling earrings that you want to convert. Find the joint where the pendulum or weight is suspended.
- Grab the end of the hooking point and gently bend open to free the weight.
- Take the end of the earring and reattach to the side of the fish hook converter. The built-in hoop opens and reopens easily. The weight will sit perfectly in the hook and you won’t have to worry about it falling off.
- If you do not want to remove the main body of the earring, you will need a hoop converter.
- A hoop converter looks like a tiny earring that’s designed to attach a larger earring to an adjacent hooking point.
- Loop the dangling earring into the hoop converter so the hoop converter is on top.
- Squeeze the center of the metal body of the dangling earring to lock the hoop converter in place. You just need to crimp the metal together so the hoop converter will not slide off.
- Attach the hoop converter to the fish hook converter and you now have a full, dangling earring adapted to become a comfortable earring converter.
Tips to Make Clip-on Earrings Comfortable
- The easiest way to make clip-on earrings comfortable is by purchasing clip-on earring cushions. These can be glued onto the clipping parts of the earrings so the bare metal doesn’t squeeze your earlobes.
- Earring cushions are often reusable and you will only have to replace them when they are worn out. If you begin feeling a pinch every time you wear your clip-on earrings, that’s a sign that you should have spare cushions at the ready.
- If earring cushions do not cut it for you, you can adapt any type of foam pad for your ear. These can be purchased easily from hardware stores.
Use the same adhesive that you have been using for your earrings with these foam pads. Remember to cut away only the right size for each of the clips so they will look alright on your ears. - With a pin or any other appropriate object, try to find the ‘tongue’ or the paddle back mechanism responsible for tightening and loosening your clip-on earrings. Your clip-on earrings should feel slightly looser whenever you push back at the paddle-back mechanism.
- Continue adjusting the paddle-back mechanism until you have reached a comfortable yet sensible tightness. It shouldn’t be too lose that the earrings will fall off, yet it shouldn’t be so tight that your earlobes hurt the whole day.
- If you can’t adjust the tightness of your clip-on earrings properly, ask your local jewelry supplies store or craft store for a comfort key. This is a special tool made especially to adjust the paddle-back mechanism.
