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Key Takeaways
Some do. Morrisons announced a Saturday 9 to 10am quieter hour in 2018 and a Sunday first-hour one in 2020, and Asda announced a 2 to 3pm Monday to Thursday Quieter Hour in 2021. Check with your local store before you go.
About 58 to 70 dBA in the shopping areas, 61 to 76 dBA in a food court and 71 to 83 dBA in a play area, with averages near 74 dB at weekends and spikes from tannoys, self-checkouts and alarms.
The loudest minute of nine films measured 81 to 92 dB(A) in a 2017 survey, with brief peaks higher in action scenes. A whole film averages far lower than its loudest minute.
A screening with lowered film volume, house lights on low, no trailers or adverts and freedom to move around. Showcase Cinemas describes its screenings as every Sunday morning, and many UK cinemas run them with the charity Dimensions. Check your local Showcase or cinema listings.
Yes. A passive SNR 24 earplug such as Life+ lowers dialogue by about 21 dB too, but cinema soundtracks are mixed loud enough to follow. Try them during the trailers first.
Yes, because they are loud, not because speech passes through the earplug. Everything gets quieter, not silent.
Whenever the shop, street or screen is quiet enough to talk at a normal volume. The NHS advises against wearing earplugs all the time. See a GP if everyday sounds feel painfully loud, changed suddenly, or come with pain or discharge.
“I couldn’t realistically shop only at those times.” That is how one shopper summed up supermarket quieter hours, and it gets to the point of this guide. Earplugs for shopping, the cinema and busy high streets are not a replacement for a quieter hour or a relaxed screening. They cover the rest of the week, when the only slot you have is a Saturday afternoon.
At Bollsen, we make reusable silicone earplugs that are German-tested, independently certified 24 dB and trusted by 1,000,000+ people. Our guide to earplugs for noise sensitivity covers the bigger picture of everyday sound feeling too loud. This page is about UK shops, cinemas and town centres, and how to pair the verified schemes with earplugs.
The schemes below are described exactly as the operators announced them, so always check with your local store or cinema before you go. This is a guide for adults and teenagers, our earplugs are not medical devices, and the NHS guidance on when to take them out sits near the end.
Why do shops, cinemas and high streets feel so loud?
Shops, cinemas and high streets feel loud because several sound sources stack up at once. In a shop it is piped music, tannoy announcements, self-checkout voices and trolleys on hard floors, all bouncing off tiles and glass. In a cinema it is a soundtrack mixed to peak at 85 to 95 dB in action scenes. A peer-reviewed week of measurements in a shopping mall by Alnuman and Altaweel (2020) recorded 58 to 70 dBA in the shopping areas, 61 to 76 dBA in the food court and 71 to 83 dBA in the children’s play area, with the daily average climbing from 70 dB on weekdays to about 74 dB at weekends.
The National Autistic Society makes a related point in its guidance on sensory processing: shopping centres often play “clashing music from many different shops”. Add a self-checkout that narrates every step at full volume and a store alarm designed to be heard over everything else, and a 58 to 70 dB average hides a lot of spikes.
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Life+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsLife+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsMusic SoundPRO★ 4.8 · 514 reviewsWatersafe+★ 4.8 · 684 reviewsLife+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsWhat do UK supermarket quieter hours change?
A supermarket quieter hour changes the store rather than the shopping. Morrisons announced a nationwide one in July 2018, every Saturday from 9 to 10am: lights dimmed, music and radio off, tannoy announcements avoided, trolley and basket movement reduced, and checkout beeps and other electrical noise lowered. A Sunday version in the first hour of trading followed in October 2020, with the same measures.
Asda announced its own Quieter Hour in November 2021, from 2 to 3pm Monday to Thursday with reduced noise levels in store. The same release said over 85,000 colleagues had been trained under the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme. These are the operators’ announcements rather than live timetables, so check with your local store before you go.
Even in a dimmed store, a quieter hour does not switch off the chiller hum, the delivery cage or the alarm test. If a busy supermarket feels like too much input rather than just too much volume, our guide to earplugs for sensory overload looks at that whole load.
How do you pair a quieter hour with earplugs?
Pairing a quieter hour with earplugs means using the scheme when your week allows it, and a passive SNR 24 earplug such as Life+ for every other shop. Plugs in at the entrance for the loud aisles, out again at the till or in the car park. Keep the case on your keyring so the pair is there when the Saturday shop cannot be moved. Take them out at the till if you prefer to talk without them, since voices get quieter too.
Our Life+ passive SNR 24 dB reusable silicone earplugs (£29.95) bring a 90 dB spike at the self-checkout down to roughly 66 dB at the ear. Announcements and alarms stay audible because they are loud, not because speech passes through. Quieter rather than silent is the right result in a shop where you still need to hear “cash or card”.
| Situation | Typical level (source) | What the scheme changes | Earplugs in | Earplugs out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shop floors (mall study) | 58 to 70 dBA, about 74 dB average at weekends (Alnuman and Altaweel, 2020) | Lights dimmed, music off, tannoy avoided, beeps lowered (Morrisons); reduced noise levels (Asda); as announced, check locally | Entrance, self-checkouts, busiest aisles | At the till, in the car park |
| Shopping centre food court and play area | 61 to 76 dBA and 71 to 83 dBA (same study) | No verified scheme | Food court, play area, the loudest shop | Side streets, quieter shops, outdoors |
| Cinema, standard screening | Loudest minute 81 to 92 dB(A) (Bruitparif, 2017); brief peaks higher in action scenes | None; sit further back | Adverts and trailers, action sequences | Quiet scenes, the foyer |
| Cinema, relaxed or autism friendly screening | Lowered film volume (Showcase; 4.5 on the processor per Dimensions) | Lights on low, no trailers or adverts, free movement, ear defenders allowed | Optional, for the loudest scenes | Most of the film |
How loud is a cinema, and what are relaxed screenings?
A cinema’s loudest minute measured 81 to 92 dB(A) across nine films in a 2017 survey by Bruitparif, the Paris noise observatory, with brief peaks higher in action scenes. A relaxed screening lowers the film volume, keeps the house lights on low and drops the trailers altogether.
A whole film averages far lower than its loudest minute: a survey of London multiplexes measured whole-film averages of 61 to 84 dB against maximum levels of 84 to 107 dBA. A later peer-reviewed study found levels vary between cinemas, action films run louder than children’s films and levels fall with distance from the screen, so sit further back. Working out how many decibels everyday earplugs should block starts from numbers like these.
Relaxed screenings change the room. Showcase Cinemas describes its autism friendly screenings as every Sunday morning with soft auditorium lighting, lowered film volume, 2D only, no trailers, your own food and drink, and free movement around the auditorium, so check your local Showcase. Many UK cinemas run autism friendly or relaxed screenings with the charity Dimensions, so look for them in your cinema’s listings.
The Dimensions guidance for cinemas, developed with autistic experts and the UK Cinema Association, asks cinemas to reduce the sound level to 4.5 on the processor, keep the house lights on low, drop trailers and adverts, let guests move around and allow non-distracting aids such as personal devices and ear defenders. If you’re autistic and a standard screening feels like too much, our guide to earplugs for autistic adults and teens goes further than this page can.
Will you still follow the film with earplugs in?
You will still follow the film with earplugs in, because a cinema soundtrack is mixed loud. The dialogue gets quieter too: Life+ lowers the speech range by about 21 dB (its M value), so a 95 dB action peak lands at roughly 71 dB at the ear and a quiet conversation scene gets softer as well. Foam disposables are built for maximum isolation rather than moderate reduction, which is why people who try foam at the cinema lose the dialogue along with the explosions.
Life+ is rated SNR 24 (H 24, M 21, L 19), a moderate rating rather than maximum isolation, and its attenuation rises with frequency, from about 22 dB in the lows and mids to about 35 dB at 8 kHz, as our independent lab test results show. That is a standard passive profile, so you still hear the world, just quieter.
The trailers are a good test. Put the plugs in as the adverts start, and if you want more of a whispered scene, take one out. If the popcorn suddenly sounds enormous, our guide to hearing your own chewing with earplugs explains why a sealed ear canal does that.
How do you handle a busy high street or shopping centre?
A busy high street or shopping centre is handled by route and timing as much as by earplugs. Skip the food court and the play area, which measured 61 to 76 dBA and 71 to 83 dBA in the mall study, and walk the side streets rather than the main drag. Keep a flush-fitting pair in for the loud stretch only.
Weekday mornings are quieter than Saturday afternoons, as the weekend average of 74 dB against 70 dB shows. Plan one quiet stop, a café corner or a bookshop, every hour or so.
A discreet, flush fit matters more here than anywhere, because you may wear the plugs on and off for a couple of hours in public. Life+ sits inside the ear canal with no protruding stem and only a small removal tab, so most people walking past will not notice.
What is the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower?
The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower is a voluntary lanyard, pin or card, launched in 2016, that lets staff know the wearer may need extra help, understanding or more time. It does not automatically provide priority access, fast-track services or a place at the front of a queue. The Asda release above mentions colleague training under the scheme. Wearing one is a personal choice; we mention it because it often comes up alongside quieter hours.
When should the earplugs come out, and when should you see a GP?
Earplugs come out whenever the shop, street or screen is quiet enough to talk without raising your voice, because the NHS advises against wearing earplugs or ear muffs all the time. Short-term use in very noisy places is a different matter. The NHS page on hyperacusis says constant use could make you more sensitive to noise. So the pattern for a day in town is in for the supermarket entrance, the trailers and the main drag, and out for the till, the café and the walk home.
See a GP if everyday sounds feel painfully loud, changed suddenly, or come with pain or discharge. Bollsen earplugs are not medical devices. They lower the noise reaching your ears and sit alongside professional advice, never in place of it.
Which earplugs suit shopping, the cinema and the high street?
Earplugs for shopping, the cinema and the high street need moderate reduction around SNR 24, a flush fit you can wear on and off for two hours and a quick way in and out. That is also what to look for in everyday earplugs. Our Life+ earplugs are made from hypoallergenic natural silicone with a two-lamella design, last up to 100 uses, which works out at about 30p per use, and come with an aluminium case on a keyring.
One pair costs £29.95 and two pairs cost £44.95. Free UK delivery starts at £35, so the two-pair pack qualifies and a single pack does not.
Fit decides most of the comfort. With AI ear measurement from two photos, Life+ AR KI costs £44.95 and we send the size that matches your ear canal. For a household that shares the Saturday shop, the Life+ 10x Pack costs £109, about 11p per use, and every order carries a 40-day money-back guarantee, so you can test a pair on a real supermarket run.
Shop, watch and walk at your own volume
Quieter hours and relaxed screenings are worth planning around when the week allows, and a pair of earplugs covers the rest. Check locally before you go, plugs in at the entrance and the trailers, out when the place settles. For the rest of the week, our guide to everyday comfort when sound feels too loud follows the same in-and-out routine through commutes, work and home.
If you’d like to try a pair, Life+ costs £29.95, is rated SNR 24 and comes with our 40-day money-back guarantee. Pack the case and enjoy the film.
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His connection to hearing protection stems from personal experience with sound sensitivity during live events and work in noisy environments, an issue that made him more aware of the long-term risks of unmanaged noise exposure. Today, as both a communicator and a user of BOLLSEN products, he is passionate about raising awareness around the importance of proactive hearing care.
At BOLLSEN, he develops data-driven marketing campaigns, writes SEO-focused articles, and manages communication channels that connect customers with practical knowledge about hearing protection. His work ensures that BOLLSEN’s message—prioritizing health, performance, and sustainability reaches a global audience in an engaging and trustworthy way.
Passionate about writing since childhood, Timotej combines creativity with a strong analytical approach, continuously testing new ideas in digital marketing, performance advertising, and social media. He believes in learning through innovation and collaboration, balancing leadership with openness to new perspectives.
Beyond his professional role, Timotej is committed to a healthy lifestyle and finds inspiration in fitness, sports, and quality time with friends. His personal passion for well-being aligns with BOLLSEN’s core values, making his work not only a career but also a cause he deeply believes in.