Good call on alcohol and feathering. Before any liquid gently scrape off the dried soda with a plastic card and use a crepe/suede eraser to lift residue, then a quick waft of steam from a kettle at a distance can help raise the nap before your final brush. For rain city life, rotate pairs so they fully dry with cedar trees, mask the midsoles before spraying, and top up the fluoropolymer in light coats every few wears to keep puddle marks from setting.
Stop forcing high bitrate modes and pick stable or balanced in the buds app; on busy platforms the tiny quality tradeoff beats constant dropouts. Wear stems down and disable nearby device scanning to reduce interference and keep music steady.
