This informational and product review article is sponsored by 3M and is designed to help you understand more about how important hearing protection is when DIYing!
Do-it-yourself projects often require tools and actions that can create high levels of sound in your work environment. Sometimes dangerous sound levels are obvious, and it is apparent that you should be wearing some sort of hearing protection. If you are like me though there have probably been times in the past when you’ve worked through loud but bearable sound levels. This is really a bad idea and it’s a habit that I’ve recently been trying to break. Hearing loss is a serious condition and many times it is brought on over time by repeated exposure to high sound levels that, at the time, wouldn’t seem too concerning. To learn more about why hearing protection is important and to see a list of sound pressure levels for common DIY tools I recommend visiting this page from the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety.
In the past, to protect my hearing, I used those foam earplugs that you roll tightly into a cylindrical shape and insert into your ear canal. While they work OK, many times I’d find a reason not to go through the inconvenience. “It’ll just be loud for a few seconds”. “I don’t think this is loud enough to do any damage”. “I did this last time without protection and I don’t remember it hurting my ears”. In reality a lot those times I know the sound levels were higher than 85 dB (the levels at which OSHA requires hearing protection on-the-job) and really not smart.
I was excited when 3M sent me a pair of the 3M™WorkTunes™ Connect Hearing Protector to try out. At first glance they look just look like low profile ear muff type hearing protectors (and they work great at doing that as they have a Noise Reduction Rating of 24 dB) but they also have the ability to connect to devices via Bluetooth Wireless Technology!
Doing DIY projects almost every day of the week I quickly put the 3M™ WorkTunes™ Connect Hearing Protector to work around the house to test them out. The project I am working on currently is renovating my daughters’ bathroom and it required both hammering demolition (100+ dB) and running a table saw (~100 dB) to cut lots of wood pieces for the trim detail. I wore them pretty much continuously for 8 hours straight and they were really comfortable. The foam ear pads are really soft and the headband is really flexible and adjustable.
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The small engines that power lawn equipment are definitely above safe sound levels (~90 dB) and I have used the 3M™ WorkTunes Connect Hearing Protector to make those chores more fun as well! Pairing them with my phone via Bluetooth for the first time took about 1 minute and it was nice that they actually gave voice commands through the speakers to tell me when the hearing protection turned on and connected with my phone. I used them to play music and the sound quality was really good!
I decided to detail vacuum my truck the other day and realized that even the shop-vac is probably too loud for continuous use without hearing protection! It was around dinner time and I told Jenni to “call me” when it was dinner time and she did just that! The 3M™ WorkTunes Connect Hearing Protector have an integrated microphone built-in so you can take calls in addition to listen to music. No longer do you have to go up to someone wearing hearing protection and tap on their shoulder to get their attention; just give them a call haha!
Since receiving the 3M™ WorkTunes Connect Hearing Protector I have used them every time I knew I was going to be exposing my hearing to excessive noise and sometimes just for fun as headphones. They are just that easy to use and have made a lot of my DIY projects more fun. As a final note, I appreciate the fact that 3M made the maximum music levels much lower than typical hearing protection I have used in the past. The point of this product is to protect your hearing and they accomplish this at all levels!
