Pads started peeling and shedding plastic everywhere. We didn’t want to get replacements so I peeled off all the plastic, kept the cushions and used an old jean with some wool to make it better than it was before.
I have 25 year old Grados that still have their original pads. I don’t know why AKG couldn’t even stand 4 years of occasional use 🤷
When my headphones did this I first started looking for new ones… then it hit me, I can just buy replacement ear pieces. They were like $10