If Your Noisy Household Is Making It Tough to Study at Home, Try Loop Earplugs

As someone who's been working from home since just before the start of the pandemic, I know that staying focused when you've got other stuff going on in the house can be a big challenge.

I'm very lucky not to have to share my workspace, but people still come and go into the room occasionally, and that's not to mention sometimes loud conversations or movie viewings going on in other rooms that leak into my "office." I tend to tune out noise with music, but that's not always great when I'm writing and need to be able to focus on crafting my sentences.

It never actually occurred to me to try earplugs until I stumbled upon an Instagram ad for Loop Earplugs. Immediately, I was intrigued about whether they might be the solution to my household noise problems. I reached out to the company, who were generous enough to send me not one, but two, sets of the earplugs to try for myself, and here's what I discovered after using them for a couple of weeks.

The Company

Loop makes specially designed earplugs that are intended to keep out bothersome sounds at very low and very high frequencies, letting in only you sounds you need on a daily basis. Their patented technology includes an acoustic channel (which sits outside the ear in the loop shape) that imitates the length of the ear canal. It reduces noise by up to four times while not keeping out all sound. After all, hearing is very important to the awareness of your surroundings.

They're reusable and washable, and while Loop Earplugs may look high-tech, there are actually no electronics or battery components involved whatsoever. That means they require no charging, and can be used pretty much whenever, wherever. Loop also comes in different styles, including Loop Quiet, Loop Experience and Loop Experience Pro. For my review, the company sent me a pair of Loop Quiet plugs in Magic Mint and a pair of the Loop Experience plugs in Midnight Black. Loop Quiet comes in great matte jewel tones and pastels, and retails for $14.95, while Loop Experience is available in black as well as a number of sleek metallic hues, costing $24.95.

(via Loop Earplugs)

 

The Earplugs

Of the two pairs of earplugs that were sent to me first, I was most interested in the Loop Quiet, so I began with those. They came in a stunning mint green color, and are tailored for sound sleep, keeping out noise and creating greater focus, which felt just right for me and my work from home situation.

(via Loop Earplugs)

Inside the box were the two earplugs with the medium-sized silicone tips already attached, as well as a tiny carrying case for the earplugs with a keyring loop, as well as tips in smaller and larger sizes. I immediately opted for the smallest tips, given that I'm a smaller person in general, and after easily popping off the other tips and replacing them and giving them an initial wash, I popped them into my ears.

(via Loop Earplugs)

Inserting them was a breeze. I simply had to push and twist it into my ear canal until the tip sealed. I did feel a little bit of pressure after inserting it, but I found that they worked like a charm instantly. Loop Quiet reduces noise by 25 decibels, and while they absolutely don't block out every bit of noise, they're not meant to.

I loved the way they blocked out things like loud faraway chatter, the TV, distant lawnmowers and even noisy treadmills and trash compactors without affecting my ability to hear nearby speech. I could still have a regular conversation (unless someone really mumbled or they spoke with a very deep voice) and hear things like the clacking of my keyboard, or the click of my mouse, so I still felt connected to what I was doing, without a bunch of outside distraction. Plus, taking them out was just as easy as putting them in. I simply had to pull with a slow twisting motion to break the seal, and when I was done with them, they cleaned up easily when I wiped them with a damp cloth.

Best of all, at night, I discovered that they perfectly tune out the sound of snoring. If you happen to share a room (or even a floor) with a snorer, these just might change your life. However, I did find that I had trouble keeping them in all night. Every time I've worn them to bed, I've woken with one or both missing from my ears, and I'm not sure if I'm yanking them out in my sleep, or they're simply falling out. Either way, having to locate an earplug in the mornings is a small price to pay for a great night's sleep.

I was less interested in the Loop Experience headphones, which are promoted mostly for being great for loud outdoor experiences, like loud concert events or riding motorcycles. Given the pandemic, I haven't had much of a chance to indulge in any loud music recently, but I was still willing to give them a try.

(via Loop Earplugs)

One upside of the Loop Experience earplugs is that they come with four sizes of ear tips, including extra small ones. I found that the XS size fit better in my ears than the small tips, and that they were more comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

These earplugs reduce noise by 20 decibeles—I don't know a ton about sound and I wasn't able to tell a huge difference between these and the Loop Quiet earplugs based on indoor use, besides the fact that it didn't cut out as much snoring. While I do see some use for these in my future, in the meantime, I've simply swapped the extra small tips on the Loop Experience to my Loop Quiet earplugs, and I feel like that's really optimized my experience.

(via Loop Earplugs)

 

Bottom Line

Whether you're a regular earplug user or just want to give them a shot to see if they can help you get tuned in and focused, I can't recommend Loop's products enough. They won't block out every single sound—and there are different products on the market out there if that's what you want—but they're not supposed to. Plus, costs for replaceable foam or wax earplugs add up over time, so this is a great (and much more sustainable) alternative. I do wish that the Loop Quiet came with XS silicone tips for people with smaller ear holes, like me, and the case is so small and portable that I can imagine people losing it very easily, but it's a great product at a decent price, and I can see it benefitting a lot of people.

 

Dealing with a snorer? Click HERE for more tips on getting better sleep if you have a loudly snoring relative.