One aspect that's often left out in conversations about earwax (cerumen) is that there are basically two very different types -- and they're determined by genes

One aspect that's often left out in conversations about earwax (cerumen) is that there are basically two very different types -- and they're determined by genes. > There are two distinct genetically determined types of earwax: the wet type, which is dominant, and the dry type, which is recessive. While East Asians, Southeast Asians and Native Americans are more likely to have the dry type of cerumen (gray and flaky), African and European people are more likely to have the wet type (honey-brown, dark orange to dark-brown and moist). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwax So, the effectiveness of any tool is going to be wildly different for a 'wet' type vs a 'dry' type. And, the ability to be "impacted" will vary as well.