If you’ve seen the WaxVac ad on TV you are probably wondering if this mini vacuum cleaner for your ears can actually do the job. Proper aural hygiene is often overlooked compared to keeping other body parts clean, and many times it’s easy to forget about the ears for stretches of time. But this gadget is positioning itself as a way to stay on top of the task. So does it work?
Overview
The ears are one of the trickier body parts to keep healthy because there is so much conflicting advice on how to keep them clean. Some say you shouldn’t use a cotton swab at all because all you’re doing is impacting the wax and making it stick to the inside of your ear more. Others say that ear wax is the body’s way of protecting the ear from dust, dirt and other debris, so you should leave it alone and just take care of any wax that makes it out of the ear canal. And still others recommend ear wax removal systems that break up the wax and flush it out.
The Claim
The makers of WaxVac claim that this is a safer way to rid your ears of water and dirt than using a Q-Tip. They repeatedly point out that you’re not supposed to put a cotton swab in your ear canal, as this can puncture your ear drum and cause severe damage.
The Hype
This has it’s own 30 second spot on TV that exaggerates just how dangerous it is to use cotton swabs in your ears by showing a guy jam one into his ear and then scream “Ow!”. Most of us aren’t as inept as this, but there is still the possibility of going too deep when cleaning out your ears, as there’s no reliable way to tell where your eardrum is without doing damage.
The Cost
Your total comes to $24 and includes two WaxVac units. This is sold on the classic buy one get one free just pay shipping, which keeps the price down for the actual unit, but jacks up your total price. It also means that if you take them up on their offer you’ll only be getting back the $10 that it technically costs. It’s always a red flag for us when it costs more to ship a product than the product costs. By the time you ship it back to them as a return, you’re still going to be out $20 for nothing.
There’s also the possibility of being overcharged for the unit, with several complaints being filed that allege they charge more for shipping than what is stated. There’s also one user that claims they were charged nearly $100 for a deluxe upgrade. There’s still no confirmation that anyone was successfully able to return or cancel an order.
The Commitment
You’d want to use this everyday if it works. That would keep water, dirt and debris from accumulating in your ears. It appears that it would be just as fast if not faster than using a cotton swab, so it would save you a bit of time, but it would also be more effective, so it would really be cutting down on your level of commitment to ear health and hygiene.
Evaluation
There’s been a lot of debate over ear candling as to whether it works or not. This is supposed to create a vacuum in the ear canal as well and remove all of the gunk that has built up. But one of the criticisms is that it wouldn’t be safe for you to create a vacuum in your ear, as this could be just as damaging to your ear drum as puncturing it would be. The WaxVac is using the same concept of sucking out water, and although they say it’s gentle it’s still possible that you’d suck up more than just water if you don’t use it properly.
Final WaxVac Review
This is getting our Thumbs Down rating. There are a few areas of concern, namely that you’re taking all the risk in trying this because of the way the pricing structure is set up. Also, we’re not exactly sure that doctors would recommend using suction on your ear canal, and this seems to be just as risky as sticking a cotton swab too far. In addition to this there are several reports that they overcharge during the ordering process, and they say orders have been shipped when they haven’t.
Our Recommendation
You’ll need to determine which approach you want to take to cleaning your ears, but so far suction doesn’t seem like a winner. Although it seems like it should work, and claims to be a safe and effective way to clean your ears, we’re skeptical and were unable to find anyone that says they had a good experience with it.
Received product and put batteries in it, but motor works but no suction and no operation of inspection light. Please explain or refund.
They just deliver to me just now. Amazingly it kill all my excitement. This piece of crap just don’t work at all. I changed 4 new batteries but still failed to function. I paid $48 SGD for this junk. Its a scam!!!!!!
Where to by in Las Vegas NV
How did you attach the Q-Tip to the vacuum, thanks.
Gary
For me it works however you have to loosen the wax with wax softener liquid like debrox. I also use it when I was my hair after during showers to remove excess water. I always had problems whenever I was my hair during shower and had to be using ear plugs or cotton to keep out the water. Now I use the wax vac and it works like a charm
I want a refund. NOW. THIS MACHINE IS CRAP.. DOESN’t WORK. CAME TO MY HOUSE YESTERDAY, FED EX. BROKEN. TRIED 6 new batteries and nothing. I WANT A REFUND.
201 248 3621.
I bought this. It doesn’t work initially at all at first.
However, I decided to attached a Q-tip cotton bud to it and it worked like a charm!
Highly Recommended.
I bought it for 2 $ from my local store the motor is pretty weak plus elevtonics are very cheap in my country and no tax
not worth the bother,Crap…
This piece of shit doesnt work at all.the fraudelent bastards,
so stick it in your ear,not.could tell u where to though.
This device was amazing.
All the way to the trash can.
So the reviews are really good then hahah
BIG RIP OFF !!! My bad for not checking it out before I won the bid.
lol …Yes, I have to admit I bid to get this. I was really hoping that it would do what it claimed to do.
BE WARE before you throw your money away.
My grandson gets swimmers ear when I take him to the club to swim, so I wish this thing would have done what it claimed. It didn’t suck out anything, not a drop of water, I will just have to stick to ear plugs. I wish I had of read the reviews before I ran out and bought one. Its a fraud. Was a good Idea, just NOT a product that does what it suppose to do.DON”T BUY ONE.
This is a piece of shit ever who invented this thing needs to put it where the sun don’t shine and see what comes out people like this should go to prison for fraud
Complete load of fraud shit
THIS WAX VAC FUCKING SUCKS BALLS IT DOESN’T TAKE ANY WAX OUT OR NOTHING IT JUST SEEMS TO BLOW COLD AIR LIKE A FAN
My wife was about to order one the other day when I intervened just in time. I wanted to hear from those who had tried one earlier if indeed this little thing works. I am buying chocolates instead of this crap!
I got it for Christmas because I’ve always had problems with my ears all it did was just buzz in my ear and give me an ear ache. The light didn’t even come on. I think it’s a scam!!
It was a great idea if it worked. But it doesn’t. I wish I would have looked at the review’s before I bought it. It’s junk. It’s not powerful enough to do anything. Didn’t even get water out of the ear.
Nope big piece of junk. I bought two of them to use to get water out after swimming. Neither of the two will even turn on. I can’t get the light nor the motor to turn on. I took one apart to have a look and its nothing more than a plastic fan on a small little electric motor. Switch looks to be garbage and I would imagine it is why my units don’t work but its not worth the time to fix it. It write it up as a lesson not to buy junk from an infomercial.
I was wondering if it worked or not…glad to read about it here before I made me decision.
I use a small ear spoon I bought while in Thailand. I am not sure they sell them here in the
US. I follow it with a good ol Qtip. They stay clean as a whistle!
this shit don’t work I want my money back. I’ll stick to q-tip it does the job better.
Lol digging for earwax
Bought it at Walmart too after trying it nothing came out except blood the next day followed by pain I went to the drs now I have an ear infection …..stay away from wax vac .
thanks, exactly what I wanted to know
We had the same experience as others. The WaxVac could barely suck up water so how could it suck out the wax. It’s a joke
and we took it back to Walgreens for a refund.
Wal-Mart sells the WaxVac. I saw it at its As Seen On TV aisle (duh) by the cash registers. I never really cared about it until my dad visited and made a big deal about wanting to buy it. So I decided to buy it. It was $10. I tried it out as soon as I got home. It didnt work. I even dug a bit of wax from my ear with my pinky finger (gross, I know) and tried to vacuum the wax off my finger, the wax didnt budge. So its a piece of crap. Spend your $10 elsewhere.
Using cotton swabs after a shower to dry your ear canal can actually be pretty dangerous. I once suffered ear infection for it and I had to pay several visits to the doctor to have it healed. But I don’t know about waxvac either, to me it seems like it could potentially be more dangerous than cotton swabs. It looked great for a second, but I might have to do a little more digging before I decide on purchasing it.
I was only charged the $24 or $25 that it cost. I received it today and it did take a few days after it said it was shipped before it actually shipped. It does vacuum out the water, but I have yet to see it vacuum anything else out of the ear. I know they offered a ear saline solution to help loosen stuff, but you shouldn’t need it if it did it’s job correctly.