The WaxVac has a great TV commercial.  I always cringe when the actor punctures his eardrum with the Q-tip.  But I cant turn away either.

Probably every parent will understand the situation that led to me trying it.  Non-parents might not, but they will one day.

My 9 year old told me he had an earache one day.  When asked why, he replied that he had a piece of wood in his ear.  When asked why, he replied that he put it there.  When asked when, he replied that it was there for a month.  Yes, a month.

Now, I wasn’t convinced there was a piece of wood in his ear.  But I was convinced that it hurt.  I had many ear problems as a kid, so wanted to get it cleaned out.

So I ran to the local store and picked up some gentle ear cleaning supplies: hydrogen peroxide and an ear cleaning and irrigation kit.  And in the asle near the check-out was the WaxVac for $10.  With the background of having seen those TV commercials a hundred times, I thought that if it really was a tiny piece of wood that the WaxVac would be perfect.  So I got it.  As a desperate parent.

The package was easy to open.  It was easy to put together (the battery compartment wasn’t clearly marked, but I figured it out).  There was a little light in the back, and the vacuum turned on.

But the WaxVac sucked.  Not literally – that would have made it useful.   No, it had no suction at all.  Totally worthless, although my son kind of enjoyed playing with it.

Oh, it was just a bit of earwax by the way.  Problem solved.  Now onto the next crisis.