The 8 Best Sinus-Rinse Kits and Neti Pots (2024)

$10

Pressure: Gentle to medium | Method: Pressurized can mist, spray, or rinse | Tips: Three interchangeable tips | Solution: Pre-mixed (no packets necessary)

This mist was the easiest of all the methods I tried because it doesn’t require any prep before use. The pressurized can is ready to go out of the box and comes with three different tip attachments for misting, spraying, and rinsing. The attachments allow for varying pressures, misting being the least amount and rinsing being the most. After trying out all three, it seems that the misting and spraying tips are good for everyday use but less effective for when I was stopped up. On a day I had a stuffy nose, I tried out the rinsing tip, and it helped clear me out almost instantly. Because the tips are detachable, they can be cleaned after every use as recommended.

Maitland, who recommends mists for everyday use, keeps a pressurized can by her toothbrush and uses hers every night after brushing her teeth. She adds that its design is easily portable, too. Raithatha, who recommends NeilMed’s products to patients, says some folks also prefer this to a neti pot because they don’t have to tilt their head to let the saline flow through the nose. Because it’s so versatile and user-friendly and doesn’t require much prep, this convenient NeilMed pressurized can is our best overall pick.

$11

Pressure: Gentle to medium | Method: Squeeze bottle rinse | Tips: One tip | Solution: Two solution packets for multiple uses

When Maitland has a “full-blown sinus infection,” she employs a NeilMed squeeze bottle. Like the aforementioned pressurized can, this doesn’t require any head tilting, but you will have to mix the provided solution yourself. When I tested the Ready Rinse, I boiled filtered water (to be safe), let it cool to a lukewarm temperature, and mixed the solution in the squeeze bottle. All of this took about 30 minutes, mainly because it took a while to wait on the water to cool. Afterward, I employed the rinse to one of my stuffed up nostrils and watched a steady stream of water and mucus out of the other. It was as effective as using the above with its rinse tip, and I appreciated being able to control the pressure since I was squeezing the bottle myself. Strategist contributor Priya Rao, who suffers from “raging sinus infections,” likes this effortless solution, which requires “no contorting or gagging” that can come with neti pots. Since using it twice a day (and even more in the summertime when her air conditioner is on full blast), she “can literally breathe easier.”

$10

Pressure: Gentle | Method: Plastic neti pot | Tips: One soft tip | Solution: 30 single-use solution packets

My mom is a firm believer in the neti pot. About 15 years ago, she started running regularly outdoors, and her allergies were so bad that she suffered from sinus infections almost every other month. Her doctor recommended a neti pot, and since then, it’s been her go-to way to prevent sinus infections. She’s also tried sinus rinses, but she swears a neti pot is “much more thorough and effective.” And because she has a deviated septum, the saline solution rinses through her entire nasal passage instead of just flushing out one side. Voigt, who highly advises people to start with a gentler rinse, likes that the “classic neti pot is very gentle. You’re just pouring the water on one side, tilting your head, and letting gravity work its way through.” All of the experts we spoke to emphasized the importance of cleaning the neti pot after each use, with Maitland and Bassett advising to get a dishwasher-safe device for less fuss. This one from SinuCleanse is safe to place on the top rack of a dishwasher, comes with 30 single-use solution packets, and features a no-spill cap and a soft, latex-free nasal tip.

$15

Pressure: Gentle | Method: Neti pot | Tips: One tip | Solution: 30 single-use solution packets

When Maitland does use a neti pot, she prefers that it’s made out of clay, noting that the off-gas from plastic neti pots can pose an issue for some people. This NeilMed neti pot is porcelain, so it’s a bit denser and more durable than other ceramic neti pots. Like the plastic neti pot, it’s important to clean this after every use, and this one’s conveniently dishwasher-safe. It also comes with 30 solution packets that you would need to mix with pre-boiled, distilled, or filtered water.

$100

Pressure: Intense | Method: Suction irrigation system | Tips: Two tips | Solution: 30 single-use solution pods

The Navage may not be for everyday use — it’s for days you’re really stuffy. It’s a machine that “runs the saline solution through your nose on one side and then vacuums it out on the other,” explains Maitland. She owns one herself and takes it out when she’s “feeling industrious.” It’s more intense than the other methods mentioned in the article, but Maitland promises it “works really well” when she has a sinus infection. The Navage uses single-use solution pods, so there’s no actual mixing necessary, but you’ll still have to fill its water tank with distilled, filtered, or pre-boiled water.

$90

Pressure: Gentle to intense | Method: Pulsating irrigation system | Tips: Four interchangeable tips | Solution: 30 single-use solution packets

This SinuPulse irrigation system comes with four interchangeable tips, which come in handy for “adjusting the actual water flow into your nasal passages,” according to Bassett. Even further, this device has an EZ Touch button that lets you adjust the pressure of the water, so you don’t accidentally cause trauma to your nasal passages. It can also help if you have thicker mucus, according to Voigt. He recommends pressurized devices to patients who have chronic sinusitis, meaning their mucus is “really thick and dense, almost like a flu-like mucus.”

$26

Pressure: Medium | Method: Pulsating irrigation system | Tips: One tip | Solution: 30 solution packets

This NeilMed device comes at a fraction of the price of the other battery-operated sinus-rinse kits. It’s not as intense as the Navage, but it’s an inexpensive choice if you want a pulsating nasal rinse with more pressure than the non-battery-powered choices. It comes with one detachable tip and doesn’t allow control over the amount of water released. This makes it a simple, straightforward device. Plus fewer attachments means it takes up a lot less counter space.

$15

Pressure: Gentle | Method: Squeeze bottle rinse | Tips: One tip | Solution: 60 premixed solution packets

For kids, Maitland and Voight both say it’s important for adults to administer something that’s very gentle so the child isn’t traumatized by the experience. And while neti pots are gentle, it’s unlikely that a child would tolerate the discomfort and head-tilting that comes with using it. Raithatha recommends NeilMed’s sinus rinse because of how inexpensive, accessible, and effective it is. Also, with the squeeze bottle, the adult administering the solution has more control over the amount of solution getting released, unlike a pressurized can or other methods.