At your wits end? Tired (literally) of lying next to someone who snores and sounds like a freight train? Take comfort in knowing that you’re not alone. Although you feel it at as you watch the clock tick over another hour as you lay awake while you’re contemplating pushing your partner out of bed. Stress no more, we may have a solution to help block noise from a snoring partner to help you get that perfect night sleep that you’ve been dreaming of.

How do I choose the Best Earplug for Snoring?

For earplugs to be most effective in blocking the highest amount of loud noise, i.e. snoring, you need to ensure that they have a high noise reduction rating (NRR). Ideally, you want to be looking at 25db or greater. Secondly, you want them to be comfortable! It kind of defeats the whole purpose of trying to get a good night sleep if you’ve got something uncomfortable in your ear right?!

What are the Best Earplugs for Snoring?

When you are choosing a pair of earplugs to block out snoring you must take particular notice of the NRR. (Noise Reduction Rating) The NRR is the amount of sound, measured in decibels, that a pair of earplugs will block out. To better understand this, a persons’ hearing threshold is defined as 0db (decibels). A watch ticking would have a level around 20db, whilst whispering rates at approximately 30db, the average conversation is around 50 – 60db. (Although I am certain my children talk at around 90db) A vacuum cleaner is typically 70db. Snoring usually falls between 60 –90 decibels, that’s pretty damn loud in anyone’s ears… Now you can wonder no more why you toss and turn, attempting to get a decent night’s sleep, whilst your trying to drift off into a peaceful slumber lying next to a vacuum cleaner!

Reusable or Disposable Earplugs?

Earplugs fall into two categories. Disposable earplugs are available in soft foam and mouldable silicone putty. Although they are disposable, they can be worn for a number of times before needing to be changed over. The great thing about soft foam earplugs is that they have the highest noise reduction. The highest possible noise reduction rating for earplugs is 33db. Most soft foam earplugs are around NRR 30-32db. For men and people with larger ears, we recommend our Macks Maximum Protection Soft Foam Earplugs For women and people with smaller ears, we recommend our Macks Dreamgirl Soft Foam Earplugs

The Best Reusable Earplugs for Sleeping

When it comes to reusable earplugs – you cannot beat Alpines Sleep Soft earplugs. They are our number one best-selling earplug. Sleep Soft Reusable plugs are made from of a soft, flexible thermoplastic polymer. The warmth of your ear means that this material softens and adapts to the shape of your ears, which is why so many people say that they are such a good fit. Due to the lightweight soft material and design, they don’t put pressure on the ears like many other reusable silicone earplugs do. This is ideal for an earplug that you need to wear all night to get your 40 winks. Another great this about the Sleepsofts is that they don’t contain silicone or latex, which takes away the concern for many who suffer from allergic reactions and or for those who have sensitive ear canals and are prone to irritations.

Are All Earplugs Comfortable?

Heck no! Because earplugs to block snoring will be used when sleeping, they must be comfortable to wear. Not only does the material that they are made of affect comfort, the size of the earplug and the size of your ear canal also comes into play. I can’t stress enough to people the importance of having the right-sized earplug to fit your ears. If an earplug is too big it will place too much pressure on your ear canal and cause discomfort. More than likely it is also going to fall out. On the other side of the coin, if earplugs are too small they can easily fall out during your sleep and or not provide the intended noise reduction.

Are there Earplugs that block all Noise?

In a word, no. Unfortunately, there is no earplug (or hearing protection device) in the world that can block out “all” noise. I know that is not what you want to hear when it comes to trying to block very loud snoring. An important factor to note is that our head absorbs sound, not just our ears. As a result of bone conduction noise doesn’t only reach our cochlea via the ear, but also through the skull. So, in summary, short of encapsulating oneself in a soundproof chamber, it is seemingly impossible to block out all noise. However, hearing protection such as earplugs and earmuffs are designed to lessen the harshness of the noise. What they will do is bring the noise down to a safer, more tolerable level, to at least allow you to get to sleep. I’d recommend earplugs over earmuffs for sleeping as earmuffs are not at all comfortable to wear overnight when you are attempting to get some “shut-eye” More often than not we find that our earplugs save “snorers” from having a pillow held over their face and will take away enough sound so that the “snoree” can get enough sleep to function like a real human being the next day.

Are there Alternatives to Earplugs for Sleeping?

Ear Plugs are lifesavers (and often marriage savers) for many. However, even with the best ear plugs available, snoring can sometimes still be too loud for a partner to happily sleep. The majority of our customers find that earplugs work well enough to block partners snoring. Although, there is a small percentage of people who find that earplugs alone are not enough. Before you decide to wedge your earplugs in your partners’ nostrils in the middle of the night… There are other solutions to blocking noise… What if we told you that there was, in fact, an answer to earplugs not being enough to block sound, especially snoring? We have a simple device that has helped many people, for many years, achieve a good night sleep naturally! An earplug with a NRR of 30 – 33db will reduce the level of sound but sometimes this may still not be enough to reach a good night sleep. We have helped hundreds of people over the years successfully get to sleep with White Noise!

What Is White Noise?

White Noise quite simply masks unwanted sounds. The best and most effective solution to block noise and attain a peaceful sleep is by using a combination of both earplugs and pure white noise. Many find our sound-masking devices alone to be the answer to their prayers. I am a huge fan of White Noise (excuse the pun) and could not imagine my life without it. It has been so invaluable with our three children. They are all little sleep machines! I put it down to having white noise in their rooms since they were babies. My husband now cannot sleep without white noise, he takes his portable white noise machine with him when he travels for work. We never forget to pack them for family holidays also, this is often when you get caught off guard by unfamiliar noises from hotels, the streets, neighbouring clubs etc and you toss and turn all night. You do not want to spend your holidays tired and grumpy.

How to Insert Earplugs for Sleeping

Yes there a right way to insert earplugs? Yes, yes and yes! We speak to a lot of people who say that they have tried earplugs to block noise in the past but they found that they didn’t work. Hmmm, this is an easy one, if earplugs do not work effectively to block sound, 99 percent of the time, this is because they are the wrong size and or they have not been inserted correctly, particularly when it comes to soft foam earplugs. If you try to just push an earplug into your ear and hope for the best… expect the worst. They, quite simply, are not going to block the amount of sound that they are intended to.

How to insert Soft Foam Earplugs to Block the Most Sound

Step 1 Hold the soft foam earplug in the same hand to the ear that you are wearing the plugin. For example, if you are putting the earplug into your right ear, hold the earplug in your right hand. Step 2 Making sure your hands are clean and dry. Starting from the tapered end, roll the earplug between your pointer and thumb (or pointer, index finger and thumb if preferred) until you have squished the earplug into a snake-like shape. Step 3 Take your left hand up and over the top of your head (tilt your head to the left side) With your thumb, pointer and index fingers, pinch the top of your ear. Now pull your ear up and out away from your head. What this does is straighten the ear canal to allow it to slide in properly to create the best seal. Step 4 With your right hand, while still pulling your ear up and out, insert the foam plug, tapered end first, into your ear canal. It should easily slide in. Insert the plug far enough to form a good seal but enough to leave the end out so that you can pull them out when needed. Step 5 Now, using your pointer finger, hold your earplug inside your ear until you feel the foam fully expand in your ear canal. It won’t take long, but be patient so that you can ensure it works as intended. You will know that you have made a good seal when the sound of your voice sounds muffled. Step 6 Check the fit. Simply cup both hands tightly over your ears. You want outside noise to sound the same as having your ears cupped as without. So, if the noise sounds much more muffled with your hands in place, you probably don’t have them fitting properly. Take the earplugs out and try again until you have a good seal.

How to insert Reusable Earplugs to Block the Most Sound

To insert reusable earplugs – simply follow steps 1, 3 and 6.

Which Ear Plugs Are Best for Me?

For medium to large canals (this is most men and teenage boys) we recommend Macks Maximum Protection soft foam earplugs which have the highest NRR available with a NRR of 33db. Alternatively our very popular Macks Ultra Soft foam earplugs. For smaller ear canals (typically this is females) we recommend Macks Slimfit soft foam plugs or Macks Dreamgirl soft foam earplugs. The Slimfit is a slightly smaller thinner and more tapered design than the Dreamgirl. Both the Slimfit and the Dreamgirl have a high noise reduction rating.

Still Unsure?

We’ve put together an Earplug Variety Pack for people just like you. To save you having to buy a packet of each of the various earplugs we offer, we’ve put together a selection of each so that you can “try before you buy” more or less. Do you have any STOP SNORING Products? We thought you’d never ask. We have helped hundreds of people save their marriage with this little beauty the Airmax Nasal Breathing Device