Q-tips were originally invented in 1923 by Leo Gerstenzang, whose wife was wrapping cotton around a toothpick to clean the baby’s ears. I hear on the news that some people still use them for that.

The "Q" in Q-tips® stands for quality and the word "tips" describes the cotton swab at the end of the stick. I was on a trip ...

This is Explainer, a column that answers questions we all have (or should have). As someone who regularly “cleans” my ear canals with cotton swabs, a question hangs over me basically every day: How ...