There’s a thread on Mumsnet currently where they are saying you shouldn’t pluck ears, and how Thornit is talc.
Erm, I have a poodle and can’t imagine not plucking, and I have in the past used minimal Thornit to good effect.
According to this thread you should not pluck and you should use drops to clear wax.
Thoughts ?

In some dogs plucking can cause irritation.  I have schnauzers and have never plucked ear hair, never had any ear problems in 30 years.    I do cut the hair very close very regularly and love using thornit.   I like the smell and it kills mites.

Complete nonsense; hairy ear canals should definitely be plucked. Putting oil down will only make clogged ears worse and if the eardrums are damaged (surprisingly common) could do a lot of harm.

And although thornit contains a certain amount of talc that is just a carrier for the other chemicals (zinc oxide, iodoform and boric acid) which are the ones that are effective. That said, Thornit should only be used very sparingly and not actually put down the ear canal, because if there is a bad infection it simply forms a glue with the ear discharge and completely clogs up the ear canal, meaning sedation is often needed to flush it out.

I've plucked Poodle ears for many, many, many years.  I've never used Thornit, never needed to.  I've never had a Poodle with ear problems.

> Putting oil down will only make clogged ears worse and if the eardrums are damaged (surprisingly common) could do a lot of harm.

OP said drops, not oil - not the same thing, although I've not read the original thread.  Zymox is a fantastic enzymatic cleaner and doesn't clog the ear canal.

A lot of people put Thornit down the ear canal (presumably having not read the instructions) and that's much more likely to clog them.

You're absolutely right, I've no idea why i typed oil and not drops! But even so, the wrong drops can do more harm than good.

I was interested to learn more about Xymox drops and my research has left me even more confused. on the one hand it states that Xymox Otic is "an effective ear product that does not contain steroids" and then goes on to say "The active ingredient is a Hydrocortisone 1% " ... which is a steroid!

There are two one with hydrocortisone and one without.
U are right the wrong drops can do more harm than good. After 5 years having it explained to me by specialist  each time why a certain ear medication is choose over another and then varied as need no way would I consider using anything without advice

If I didn't pluck my dogs ears, they would totally clog up. It's not only cats that get fur balls, as I have discovered

The options aren't only to pluck or do nothing.