Wearing Wax on Top of Foam Earplugs: ThermaFit Plus Ohropax

Recently, a reader asked me whether adding wax or soft silicone earplugs to foam earplugs would provide a noise reduction benefit.

I had considered this in the past, but never felt like putting it to the test.

The main issue is that both foam and wax/silicone putty earplugs are disposable, so you would have to replace both frequently. This can get quite expensive over time.

Also, soft, moldable earplugs are sticky and hence can leave a residue on your “foamies,” so you might have to replace them even earlier.

But upon further consideration, there are situations where I, and perhaps you was well, would accept the extra hassle and expense, provided the combination of wax and foam delivers substantial noise reduction benefits and is comfortable.

So I decided to test this after all.

Potential use cases:

• You are trying to sleep close to a loud snorer and would just need a few extra decibels noise reduction to allow you fall asleep.
• Your bed or hotel room is next to a busy road.
• Your neighbor decides to have a party and cranks up the music.

In this post, I am reporting on my noise reduction results when wearing Ohropax Wax on top of Mack’s ThermaFit foam earplugs.

Why this particular pairing?

1. ThermaFit are very good at blocking low frequency noise, which is hard to do. If I could improve on that excellent LFN noise reduction, that would be something. Moreover, they are relatively short, so I can insert them completely.

Take a look at the following image for what I mean with completely inserted:

The fact that they don’t stick out of my ear makes them less likely to affect the seal of moldable earplugs that have to sit at the ear canal entrance.

2. Ohropax wax are somewhat stickier than other wax and silicone putty earplugs I have tried. In my ears, they provide a more reliable seal.

I found it helpful to pull the ear up a bit while flattening the wax ball over the foam earplugs and then release it.

Important: This post reports on using these earplugs for noise annoyance reduction, specifically nighttime noise reduction to improve sleep quality. The information/data presented in this post is not intended for, nor suitable to be used in the context of hearing protection.

Noise reduction test

I used pulsed noises at increasing frequencies (1/3rd octave steps, own ears) to compare the noise reduction of the foam earplugs alone with that of the combination of wax and foam earplugs.

First, I noted the noise reduction when wearing only ThermaFit.
I then rolled Ohropax into a ball, flattened that ball over ThermaFit, and re-did the noise reduction test.

I repeated the same test sequence a second time a few days later, so the result detailed here is the average of two trials.

Somewhat to my surprise, adding Ohropax to ThermaFit improved noise reduction across the whole tested frequency range.

On average, I got 5 decibels additional noise reduction, a very respectable improvement.

I would have expected some improvement against mid- and high-frequency noise, but the combination was also clearly better against low frequency noise (LFN).

In fact, I initially speculated that wax might even negatively affected LFN reduction. But that was not the case.

Here is the noise reduction chart (the higher line, the better):

The green line at the bottom denotes the difference for each tested frequency. 

Wearing comfort

I would prefer to wear foam earplugs alone, but the combination was still very comfortable.

Adding wax initially led to a feeling of airtightness and a bit of suction, but after a few minutes, I got used to it.

(At times, I get a similar feeling when wearing wax alone.)

I had no problems lying on my side with my ear against the pillow, so for me, this works for side sleeping.

No excessive amplification of body-generated sounds

When I use wax or silicone putty earplugs alone, movement sounds, breathing, and my own voice all appear noticeably louder (occlusion effect).

This turned out not to be an issue at all when wearing foam earplugs underneath.

Seal consistency

In general, wax earplugs can become loose much more easily than foam, leading to a decreased noise reduction.

However, I did not notice any additional negative impact of the foam earplugs on the seal of the wax earplugs.

I think this is because I can completely insert ThermaFit.

In contrast, if the foam earplugs were to protrude from my ear canal, they might negatively affect the seal.

Conclusion

I got five additional decibels noise reduction (on average) across the tested frequencies by wearing Ohropax on top of ThermaFit (compared to ThermaFit alone).

This is a substantial improvement.

I also tried the combination on my balcony, which is not far from a busy road, and I did my usual fridge door slam test.

In both scenarios, the improvement was clearly noticeable.

Foam earplugs alone usually work just fine for me at night and adding wax somewhat reduces wearing comfort.
Also, adding a second type of disposable earplug on a regular basis means an additional ongoing expense.

However, I will put a small box of Ohropax (detailed review) in my luggage, reserved for situations where I am desperate for more noise reduction.

Given how well combining wax with ThermaFit (PVC foam, detailed review) worked, I am considering to also test wax with PU foam earplugs.
Stay tuned.