When you hear “clip-on earrings” what are some words that come to mind? Uncomfortable, painful, annoying? These are all common thoughts that come to mind. But what if we told you that it doesn’t have to be this way? Clip-ons do not need to be synonymous with discomfort. It’s possible that you can make them a comfortable to wear all day, every day, let us show you how to do it. 

 1. Paddle Back & Mini Clip-ons 

Paddle back clips are one of the most common types when looking at clip-on earrings. This type range in size from large to accommodate heavier or larger designs, to mini clips that are for studs or lightweight styles. This particular design can be adjusted to provide more comfort to the wearer. 

The tools that you’ll need to adjust your paddle back earring is a small screwdriver and a well lit area to work in. Once you have your work area and your tool, you’ll take a look at the three columns on your paddle back earring, and look for the small screws that are at the bottom. These screws connect the clip to the earring itself. 

Once you find them, you will want to find the small screw that lines up with the middle column, which can usually be found on the bottom of the clip’s base. This middle column and screw is what controls the tightness of the earring, and will be what you need to adjust to better fit your ear and your comfort level. 

While this is a good way to loosen up the grip of your clip-on, it’s important that you do not loosen it too much. If this happens, then the earring will lose its grip and you will risk it falling off.

You will also follow these same steps for mini clip-ons, although finding the screws may be a bit harder, due to their small size. They are also much more fragile than the larger paddle back clips, so it’s important that you take your time and handle these with care.

And just a pro tip from us, if you re thinking about expanding your clip-on collection and see a style you like, we do offer tension adjustments for all paddle back and mini clip-on styles. This way, there is no need to worry about possibly damaging your earring by performing the adjustment yourself, and you can wear your earrings immediately once you receive them.

2. Hinge Clip-ons

Adjusting hinge clip earrings are a much easier process than paddle backs, as the only tool you need to adjust these are your hands, or maybe a small pair of pliers. To begin adjusting these, you will just need to find the hinged loop on the clip area. This is what you’ll be adjusting and what “cushions” the area when skipping onto your ear. 

To adjust it, you will just take your pointer finger and thumb and gently press the looped padding in towards the back on the clip. This will cause their to be more space between the earring from and the back, and should give your ear more space and comfort. 

You can take a small pair of pliers and gently push it that way, if you aren’t able to squeeze the earring together by hand.

If the earring still feel too loose or too tight, you may also be able to bend and manipulate the bottom part of the hinge by pushing it towards the earring front or pulling it away. Again, be careful with this method as this can cause strain on your earrings and lead to breaking.

 3. Invisible Clip-ons

Invisible clips are actually one of the few varieties of clip-on styles that are created with comfort in mind already. Most of these types of clips are made with plastic, acrylic, or resin, which is much easier on the ear and does not have the same pinching sensation that more traditional earring backs may have. 

Much like the hinge clip-ons you are able to adjust them by pulling them open and “stretching” them. This will provide more space for your ear to be placed in the earring, if it came to tight. Unlike hinges though, you are not able to bend the earring back into its original shape, or make it tighter since it’s not made of metal like other earring backs. 

 4. Sliding Springs

If the above options sound like a little more work, then sliding spring earrings are going to be the go to. There’s no need to mess with screws or bend the metal tp adjust to your comfort with this style. Sliding spring clip-ons are inherently adjustable since their sliding spring design will accommodate all ear types. But, if you do find that the spring is style feeling too tight or too loose around your ear, you can adopt the pinch and bend method from the hinge back earrings. 

Since most of the sliding spring earrings are designed as hoops, you have some liberty to manipulate the form. But keep in mind, that adjusting the shape of the earring could affect its overall aesthetic and design. So tread carefully. 

Bonus Tip: Use of paddings 

If these manual ways of adjusting your earrings just aren’t cutting, then adding some padding may be your next step. Similar to how you add padding to the nose bridge of your glasses, to keep from diffing in uncomfortably, you can do the same for your earrings. 

There are two ways that you can add padding. One is by purchasing adhesive-backed foam. This can be found either in your standard glasses repair kit, or purchased at your local drugstore or on Amazon. Once you’ve received it, measure out pieces that will fit the size of your earring backs. After that, all that needs to be done is cutting out the pieces, removing the backing and sticking them on. These can be changed out as often as you need to.

If you want something that lasts bit longer, you can go visit any store where jewelry is sold, and purchase backings and cushions specifically for clip-ons. These are made to be reusable and won’t need to be changed out as often as the foam does. You can also find cushions that are adhesive or that simply slide over your earring backs. At EARA we actually offer two different types of earring paddings, silicone clip-on pads for mini clips and these silicone cushions for paddle backs, that are complimentary upon purchase of either types of earrings.

Assembly is simple for both styles! For the clip-on pads, all you need to do is open the padding clip, place the top part of the clip into the space, and close it around the clip. Wait until you hear a small click to know that it is in place. For the silicone cushions, you will place the small end of it in between the triangular space of your clip. This will stop the front piece from clamping down on your ear and causing discomfort.

Despite what everyone says, you should not have to suffer for fashion. We fully believe that comfort is key whenever you are styling yourself, and you should be able to accessorize without pain or frustration.