Kept Coming Apart [SEP] Everyone knows the saying "Don't put anything in your ear smaller than your elbow." but we all use cotton buds to clean out our ears. Just about every one of these came apart. One I had to have a friend pull out with a pair of tweezers. I was just glad she was home. Years ago they used to make cotton buds with wooden sticks. There was a good reason they stopped and went to a more flexible and softer cardboard. I think these aren't the safest cotton buds on the market. I really don't like these buds, they come apart, the wood doesn't flex and is thin and almost pointy. Not a fan.