The first cotton swab was invented in 1923 by a man who observed his wife attaching cotton to toothpicks in an effort to clean hard to reach places; his cotton buds, originally designed for baby care and marketed as "Baby Gays", went on to become the best?selling Q?Tips? brand, with the "Q" standing for quality. Cotton swabs, cotton buds or ear buds, as they are known in the United Kingdom, are often used to clean ears, apply makeup as well as for household applications such as cleaning and arts and crafts. Today the familiar and trusted brand is part of Unilever. The product line includes the original cotton swabs with 100% cotton tips; hygienic precision tip swabs specially designed for touch?ups and getting into small spaces; baby care cotton swabs featuring flexible paper sticks and the most soft cotton at their tips to make it easy to clean around your newborn's umbilical cord and belly button, clean around little ears, noses and in between tiny toes and fingers.