Wipe with a damp washcloth: This is the safest and best method of all. You can't really get inside your ear canal with your ...

This practice can lead to muffling and hearing loss. In fact, Q-Tip, the leading brand of cotton swabs, advises: “Do not insert swab into ear canal. Entering the ear canal could cause injury.

This practice can lead to muffling and hearing loss. In fact, Q-Tip, the leading brand of cotton swabs, advises: “Do not insert swab into ear canal. Entering the ear canal could cause injury.

Conveniently, the cotton head on a Q-tip is about 1 cm long, so stopping there ought to keep you relatively safe. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we’re condoning cleaning your ears this way.

Next to toilet paper, nothing in your bathroom may be as indispensable, useful, and plentiful as Q-Tips. The trademarked cotton swab has been a staple of medicine cabinets since 1923.