We don’t have chemist shops Ravenscroft, give us a link/picture so I can find them in our DRUG stores, we name them right but don’t sell the real drugs, no OTC codeine like you. What you paying for a pack [know you don't buy them anymore], less than $25?I used to use q tips for sticking in my ears until I saw these ear cleaning things in a chemist shop. They look a bit like a circlip with a handle. Like a loop that rakes out ear wax, it is really effective and satisfying to the point of addictive . The thing is stainless and that wax wipes off easily into a tissue for later viewing. Really cheap too. My GF loves to see big goops of wax, she also loves to liberate puss. She is a nurse.
I now only use q tips for my vaping stuff. We call them buds here in Oz.
RC
Mike, just wait till you get older and get tinnitus, you just think you OCD’ed your ears before!