About Mack's
Mack's is the ear plug brand made by McKeon Products, Inc., a family-owned company founded in 1962 when musician Raymond Benner bought a small earplug business built around a single moldable-clay product. His sons Devin and Pete Benner now run the company from its Warren, Michigan headquarters, and the original innovation, a moldable silicone putty earplug designed to keep water out of the ear canal, is still sold today as Pillow Soft, the brand's flagship silicone line. Over six decades the catalog has grown into disposable foam earplugs, moldable silicone earplugs, waterproof swimming earplugs, and hypoallergenic earplugs sized for kids, alongside ear-care accessories like ear-drying drops and sleep masks.
Mack's markets itself as the #1 doctor-recommended ear plug brand in the US, a ranking attributed to BRG Research, and it holds the top spot by unit sales in US retail earplugs. Its Slim Fit foam earplugs, sized for smaller ear canals, were named Wirecutter's top disposable earplug pick. Products are manufactured in the USA, and the foam and silicone lines are latex-free, which matters for a category worn in direct, prolonged ear-canal contact.
Brand website: macksearplugs.com
What Mack's makes
Mack's's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Foam earplugs
disposable polyurethane foam in Ultra Soft, Slim Fit, and Original styles, up to 33 dB NRR — featured on BestRatedDocs
Pillow Soft moldable silicone earplugs
the brand's original 1962 design — a moldable putty that seals over the canal opening rather than inside it — featured on BestRatedDocs
Swimming earplugs
AquaBlock and Ear Seals — waterproof silicone for swimming, showering, and surfing
Kids earplugs
hypoallergenic moldable silicone sized for children 6 and under
Ear-care accessories
ear-drying drops, earwax removal tools, sleep masks, and earmuffs
Why we recognized Mack's
The BestRatedDocs Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our category reviews. Mack's earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: assessed against clinical criteria, verified specifications, and real-world user outcomes, and judged on merit.
Mack's products we rated highly
Mack's Ultra Soft Foam Earplugs, 50 Count
The highest foam noise reduction rating available at 33 dB, backed by the deepest review record of any earplug we compared, over 50,000 verified ratings at 4.5 stars. The Comfy Cush foam holds up across a full night's sleep, and a 50-pair resealable jar keeps the per-pair cost low enough to treat as genuinely disposable.
Read the 7 Best Ear Plugs for Sleeping of 2026 guide →
Mack's Slim Fit Soft Foam Earplugs, 50 Pair
A slim barrel diameter purpose-built for small and narrow ear canals that standard foam plugs overstretch. It's Wirecutter's top disposable earplug pick, and the slow-rebound foam seats gently without the aggressive expansion of denser foam.
Read the 7 Best Ear Plugs for Sleeping of 2026 guide →
Mack's Pillow Soft Silicone Earplugs, 12 Pair
Sits over the canal opening instead of inside it, so there's zero in-canal pressure for ears that can't tolerate foam. It's the original moldable silicone earplug design since 1962, and it's fully waterproof, so the same plug works for swimming and showering as well as sleep.
Read the 7 Best Ear Plugs for Sleeping of 2026 guide →What earned Mack's the recognition
- A top pick in our ear plugs for sleeping review on the strength of a 33 dB foam NRR, the highest rating in the roundup, and a review base of over 50,000 verified ratings.
- Two more Mack's products earned recognition in the same review, the Slim Fit foam for small ear canals and the Pillow Soft silicone for sensitive ears, the deepest bench of any brand we reviewed, spanning both disposable foam and moldable silicone form factors.
- Independently marketed as the #1 doctor-recommended ear plug brand in the US per BRG Research, and Wirecutter named the Slim Fit foam earplugs its top disposable pick.
- A 60-plus-year track record: McKeon Products has made Mack's earplugs since 1962, remains family owned, and manufactures in the USA.
- Covers the hearing and ear-care category broadly, not a single SKU, with dedicated foam, silicone, swimming, and kids' earplug lines.