An Overview of Noise Blockers for Sleep and Work

by Ryan Vagabundo

Noise pollution is one of the great unaddressed problems of our age. The rights of noise polluters to disturb sleep, concentration and general "quiet enjoyment" of one's housing seem to be protected and catered to far more than the fundamental right to peace. 

Combine this with a general trend of building housing of all types of cheap and flimsy as possible, and stacking people as deep as possible, and we're living in the Dark Ages in terms of noise consideration. It's hard enough to be a hobo out here, but so much tougher when the housing stock is so overwhelmingly bad and overcrowding just keeps getting worse.

One way to reclaim your sleep and peace is to block the noise out. However, this isn't as simple as it could be. This article will examine the primary methods of cutting noise down specifically for the purposes of sleeping, relaxing and concentrating on work or projects. 

 A WORD ON "PERFECT SILENCE" 

A lot of people are hoping for a means of completely blocking out all outside noise. Unfortunately, even if you're in a situation where it's safe, it's just not possible (short of a purpose-built expensive construction of some kind). 

The more realistic goal is to target noise reduction to acceptable levels while focusing on specific tasks, primarily sleeping or anything involving concentration.  

OPTION #1: INDUSTRIAL SAFETY EARMUFFS

The safety earmuffs designed for industrial jobs and shooting ranges and such are probably the best "bang for the buck" option for sheer noise reduction. In terms of decibel levels they're usually at least three times more effective than standard earplugs, and you can get really good ones for as little as $10-20 USD. They're also often surprisingly comfy, being designed for situations where they need to be worn for hours at a time.

The big problem here is comfort lying down. This is probably a workable solution for the "concentration" end of the equation, ie sitting at a desk working or whatever, but they're awfully big and bulky for sleep. Maybe workable if you sleep flat on your back and don't move, but not for any kind of side sleep. 

OPTION #2: EARMUFF HEADBANDS

These stylish jobbies are sometimes worn for the cold, but there's an emerging market that have added pockets of sound insulation around the ears. As to how well they actually work and what brands are reputable ... ?? It seems like a lot of fly-by-night stuff out of China in the $10-15 range thus far. You also have to shop carefully as some seem to be marketed primarily as an eye mask, with the noise reduction part a standard earplug underneath the headband. 

On the plus side you could definitely lay down and sleep with these. The room would need to be climate-controlled if it's at all warm out though, as these things are clearly going to trap some heat. 

These things put me in mind of an interesting study I read a few years back. It actually tested a bunch of common materials for noise blockage and found that bath towels folded over at least 4x were the best. I've actually played around with this a little and found that it's more like 6x, and they have to be compressed against the ear, but they did actually make a substantial difference when standing right in front of a fairly loud TV (more for low frequency sounds than high). Anyway, I wonder if cut-up towels placed underneath a band like this in sufficient layers would actually help ... might try it at some point if I pick one of these up, I'll add the results to this page if I do.

One more product in this genre to maybe check out is the Blisstil SleepMuffs ... never tried them and not endorsing them, but I don't see anything else like this on the market yet. They have a pretty hefty price tag though (almost $100 USD) and it looks like you may need to be a back sleeper for them to work. 

OPTION #3: CUSTOM EAR PLUGS

The most cheap and straightforward solution for noise reduction is a set of earplugs, but those don't work for everyone. Some people just can't stand having something wedged inside their ear, and for side sleepers there's always a worry about it winding up embedded too far in the ear canal. Regular use can also cause impacted earwax blockages, and re-using the same foam earplugs too much or failing to wash silicone earplugs can cause an ear infection as bacteria can grow on them.

If you do want to go with earplugs, the elite way to do it is custom earplugs. These are DIY kits with a material that you heat (in hot water) and then allow to expand to the individual contours of your ear, running from about $15 to $50 in price  for well-reviewed brands. If the fit ends up not being quite right you can always re-heat and re-mold them. I haven't tried them personally but this seems like it could also address worries about the plugs slipping too far into the ear, by molding them to "catch" on the outside of the ear canal (possibly combining them with a headband or earmuffs to add more sound protection and ensure they stay in place).

OPTION #4: DETACHABLE EAR COVER / EAR CAP

As with earmuffs, there seems to be a small emerging market of ear covers or caps designed for noise reduction. Also largely seems to be no-name Chinese companies of the sort that sell Temu stuff, so I have no idea how well they're made or if they work at all.

This strikes me as something you might also combine towel layers with, or a custom earplug.

SLEEPYTIME

Hopefully this has provided you with some individual ideas about what might work for your situation. In addition to combining these methods, such as an ear cover + custom molded earplugs, you might also add white noise to the mix; this can be generated in a variety of ways from mobile apps, to running a fan, to a dedicated portable white noise machine.