# Do rotary nose-hair trimmers actually work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775 "2022-10-05T19:31:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/21 "2022-10-06T19:20:26Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > not nearly as painful as I anticipated > [@Kropotkin](#): > > often painless I translate these to mean: Why, yes, IT DOES HURT!!! ---
**Author:** ![norvalnormal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@norvalnormal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norvalnormal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/22 "2022-10-06T19:32:27Z")
I’d bought the model Crafter-Man recommends from Amazon for $20 less!! than Amazon’s current price, and it’s in my doesn’t-work-anymore bag. Thank you, all who responded to my query. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/23 "2022-10-06T19:39:34Z")
Plucking nose hairs is supposed to be not a great idea; the nose is a dirty place and an exposed open follicle can get infected pretty easily. I have a little battery operated trimmer, the business end of which is a small stainless steel castellated cylinder - it works just fine for both nose and ears (both of which seem to have become more luxuriantly hirsute in my middle age) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/24 "2022-10-07T00:01:08Z")
No mention so far of permanent laser epilation techniques ? I’m shocked. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/25 "2022-10-07T00:06:10Z")
I have a cheap one that does the job sufficiently. The real entertainment comes when I roam around the house while trimming and try to find someone to talk with. Maybe it’s the bzzt…bzzt…bzzt sound, but they all scatter for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/26 "2022-10-07T01:43:09Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Plucking nose hairs is supposed to be not a great idea; the nose is a dirty place and an exposed open follicle can get infected pretty easily. Quoting from a post of mine a few years ago on this topic: > [@Why do people continue to wage a war on body hair?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/34): > > I’ve heard before that it’s “not safe,” but I have no idea what “not safe” means. > > Does it mean that if 100 people do it every three months, one of them will eventually die from it (in which case I’ll stop)? > > Or does it mean that if 100,000 people do it every three months, then one of them will eventually die from it (in which case I’m not terribly worried)? > > FWIW, [this doctor says it’s a gross exaggeration of a theoretical problem -](https://www.indy100.com/article/danger-triangle-7433291) which brings up the question, are there documented cases of nose-hair plucking leading to life-altering complications? The article I linked to seems to be gone now, but I still haven’t heard of any actual cases of infection that could be tracked back to plucking nose hairs. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/27 "2022-10-07T03:26:03Z")
Jesus. The most quotes and responses on a post that I’ve gotten in _years_, and it’s about nose-hair removal… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/28 "2022-10-07T06:47:12Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The article I linked to seems to be gone now, but I still haven’t heard of any actual cases of infection that could be tracked back to plucking nose hairs. It’s happened to me, so you have now. It varies from being like a sore pimple, to a painful and inflamed swelling of the tissues. [This](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327427) page describes it as ‘rare’, but then I suppose it might well be. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/29 "2022-10-07T13:41:16Z")
I have a diode laser for cutting and engraving, but I’m not sure I can get my head under there. And then there’s the aiming issue as well… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/30 "2022-10-07T13:46:53Z")
The was, is and always will be high explosives. I use a little battery powered side cutting beard touch-up trimmer. Does a very good job on random ear hair as well, including those wild hairs that go from 1mm to 2cm overnight. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/31 "2022-10-08T02:40:09Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Overkill. A wood kitchen match works just fine. > [@Kropotkin](#): > > I find burning them out with a butane lighter to be very effective and often painless A cigar lighter is a bit over-the-top, but is very quick. I prefer to grow my nose hair quite long and comb & wax it into a moustache shape. Chicks dig it. Just keep the cigar lighter away from the moustache wax. Don’t ask me how I know. > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Jesus. The most quotes and responses on a post that I’ve gotten in _years_, and it’s about nose-hair removal… Everyone has their forte’. Just be glad it isn’t something ignominious. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/32 "2022-10-08T02:55:23Z")
Does anyone ever buy a nose hair trimmer as a present for someone? Seems like it would be considered insulting. 🤔 I thought of getting one for my brother as a gag. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/33 "2022-10-08T03:05:02Z")
This reminded me of Ann Landers’ weirdest letters. My favorite: “My husband burns the hair out of his nose with a lighted match, and he thinks I’m crazy because I voted for Goldwater.” The book “Big Secrets”, which was a decent best-seller in the early 1980s, had a chapter about Klipette, a nose hair clipper that allegedly worked pretty well, but there were rumors that its mail-order business was primarily to get addresses to sell to other companies. This book pretty much confirmed it. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/34 "2022-10-08T03:09:48Z")
It’s the big questions that count. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/35 "2022-10-08T03:18:23Z")
I often just yank them out. But the side burn trimmer on my electric shaver seems to work well enough too. BUT, that is my particular Braun model shaver. Your brand and model might not be suitable. Hate to have folks slice and dice in their nostrils. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/36 "2024-04-19T05:27:34Z")
After some research, including this thread, I tried a nose hair wax kit, the same Wokaar one @am77494 linked upthread. It’s cheap, effective, novel, not as painful as I was expecting, and kind of fun(!). I’m 100% satisfied, this was a very good buy. You don’t need anything more than some hot water for melting (I used an electric kettle) and perhaps some napkins or tissue. I wound up reusing the applicator dealies on the handle side, they seem to work fine like that a second use. The wax got reheated a few times in the cup and I measured 160°F with an IR therm during one of them, not too hot at all. It took four yanks per nostril (YpN) and they’re … clean. Like [_furtive glancing_] obscenely bare. Wanna see em? It’s not really painless but very low intensity and without any lingering aching. I even had a yank that slipped out of my hand (phrasing!) and had to be repulled but no big deal at all. If anyone is wondering about doing this but holding off for fear of pain, I found it negligible and say go ahead. And the wax smelled very nice. I reminds me of old church incense. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/37 "2024-04-19T13:29:47Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > took four yanks per nostril (YpN) and they’re … clean. Like [_furtive glancing_] obscenely bare. The first time I waxed my nostrils, I spent the next half-hour stoking them, marveling at the unaccustomed silky smoothness. I tried the nose-hair wax on my equally-hirsute ears, but alas, the results were not as successful. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/38 "2024-04-19T13:56:41Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > The first time I waxed my nostrils, That would be a lovely first line for someones memoirs. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/39 "2024-04-19T14:16:47Z")
… it was a dark and stormy morning. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775/40 "2024-04-19T14:41:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > The first time I waxed my nostrils, > > That would be a lovely first line for someones memoirs Or pornography for a very specific fetish… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-rotary-nose-hair-trimmers-actually-work/972775.md?page=3)