The plastic that is used for the coating of my ear bud chord is beginning to harden up from exposure to the sun. Once it hardens up it naturally becomes less flexible and I end up getting a short in the wire from normal wear and tear compared to how they are suppose to be. Is there anything I can do to re-soften the plastic (short of keeping them out of sun as I do that as much as possible already. Kinda hard when you live in desert climate) and then keep it that way?
You really cannot that I know of. You just have to keep replacing cords, or get one with a better formulation which is longer lasting in your environment.
truthfully no longer authentic. there is not any way for the vinegar to penetrate the exterior and get to the bone. organic rubbish. in case you drop a chicken bone right into a glass of vinegar and pass away it there for each week, it is going to develop into rubbery---an old 'technology for babies' style of element. probably the place this loopy rumor began.
Most plastics undergo what is called photo-degradation, caused mainly by the UV rays in sunlight. It depends on what lengths you are willing to go to in order to preserve your cord. You can prevent sun exposure by wrapping it in electrical tape or painting the cord with a flexible paint. There isn't much you can do once the plastic has been degraded, because the chemical bonds in the plastic have been broken. It is not impossible to repair the plastic, but it is cheaper and much easier to simply buy new headphones rather than attempt to repair through a chemical reaction. Because you live in a desert climate, I also suspect that the plastic could be sustaining some damage from the heat as well as sunlight. Keeping plastics in the car during the day or outside (regardless of whether or not they are in the shade) can still reduce the lifetime of the plastic if you live in a hot, arid climate.
