I use them to apply ointment to cuts. I occasionally use them to clean things that are too small for my fingers. I never use them for my ears.
this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2026
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Grammy always said never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear...
😖 I still use them for the ears..
The first mass-produced cotton swab was developed in 1923 by Polish-American Jew Leo Gerstenzang after he watched his wife attach wads of cotton to toothpicks to clean their infant's ears.[1][2] His product was originally named "Baby Gays" in recognition of their being intended for infants
From Wikipedia
Can we go back go calling them baby gays?
They are totally for ears. They are for drying your ears after you rinse them with hot water to flush out the wax.
Don't use them while your ears are still waxy.
Also, you use them with acetone to carefully strip polish or super glue from the edges of things.
I never knew this! I was missing the acetone, that's why I was waxy still
They are for ears but they just can't say that. I clean my ears all the time with them. My ENT says my ears are great.
They're OK for OUTER EAR stuff. Don't put them in your ears or you could injure yourself.
They're also great for cleaning small stuff.
Wtf do you need a q-tip for “outer ear stuff”? A qtip is a very inefficient tool for outer ear stuff.
I inadvertently clogged one of my ears with a Qtip, effectively making me deaf in that ear. I tried to wait it out, but I eventually started to get a headache. Went to the clinic, and they flushed my ear out. I don't use Qtips anymore.
Dont be a waxpacker.
You need to slowly spin the q tip as you push it in. And at the same time spiral the walls like a basketball. These combined motions serve to wick the wax onto the cotton rather than packing it in.
Same, I had this happen as a child and I haven't used a Qtip for that purpose in a long time. Anytime the subject of qtips comes to I always warn people to not use them for that purpose, and I always get blank stares and a "No, I'm going to keep using my qtips, thank you." It's really annoying.
How deep did you shove the q tip? I just do it on the outside of my ear.
I didn't shove it that deep. I just tried to clean just inside my ear, which was enough to shove some ear wax further up my ear and clog it. I now know (and frequently lecture my wife) that qtips should only be used on the outside of the ear.
Safe miniature jousting practice
I use a corkscrew to clean my ears like a real man. Or a cactus if I can't find my corkscrew.
I always found the plunger works, but if I'm at a place where there is no plunger, I'll just use my glasses.
fantastic for bong cleaning
Me using qtips like corkscrews in my ears and always having clean unclogged ears : I think it all depends on your waxiness and your ear canal shape 🤷
Ears.
Fun fact: if you put them in a bb gun they'll come out as darts you can shoot at your friends! It will ruin your bb gun though.
They were originally designed for cleaning ears by someone who didn’t know how the inside of an ear worked.
That said, I’ve used them twice today already to clean the outer ear area AND to fish an errant piece of wax out of my ear canal.
One problem is that part of a functional ear that helps it self-clean is a bunch of tiny hairs that a Q Tip can damage. Another problem is that you don’t want to poke anything solid anywhere near your ear drum, because tou can permanently damage the sensitive components at the end of the ear canal.
they are for ... cleaning small areas with a little bit of cotton.
An actual medical recommendation was to use them to clean my baby's belly button while the umbilical cord was falling off.
They are for ears, unless you're a fucking narc. (Lawyers ruin everything)
cleaning my glassware
You have glass ears? Neat.
I often have ear issues and one of the docs has adviced against using them because they were made for facial cosmetics application or something like that. Hmm.. and I still use them occassionally to clean my ears. I guess, their purpose isn't strictly defined after all.
Sounding