Earwax repelling butter

Factual Questions
1

Great topic, eh?

I scratched my ear while sitting at the computer, and came up with a bit of earwax. Despite my curiosity about the flavor of earwax, I wiped it off on a torn-off page of my Get Fuzzy daily calendar, then set it (wax side up) on the nearest flat surface: a plate that had some melted margarine on it from a bagel. Only the edge of the paper was touching.

Over time, the soy oils leached up the paper, but were careful to avoid the earwax by a good quarter inch.

So, why would the oil leave cicles around the earwax? Is there earwax oil that doesn’t discolor paper that’s doing battle with the soy oil? Is this discovery as significant as Fleming’s discovery of bacteria-repelling molds?

And what does earwax taste like?

2

I can answer the second question, as I tasted my earwax at a young age.

Slightly acidic. It tasted a bit like how it smelled.

3

Waxed paper is often used to wrap fatty foods, because it prevents grease (and liquid) seeping through.

4

True, but earwax looks like a colored solid, not a colorless liquid that would leach into paper.

There is remarkably little information on the web about the exact chemical composition of earwax. It looks like there have been some studies written about it, but nothing online. Where’s a web-based mad scientist with a gas chromatagraph/mass spectrometer when you need one?

Thanks for that, Joe. You may have kept me from trying it myself.

5

Wikkit, I can only hope we can think of more interesting topics of conversation for the road trip to Columbia.