Equate Nasal Strips Review
Equate is Walmart's house brand, and its Extra Strength Clear nasal strips are about the cheapest Breathe Right alternative you can grab off a shelf. We tested whether the budget store-brand strip opens your nose as well as the original, and where the corners get cut. Here's the unboxing, setup, real cost, and verdict.
Equate is the cheapest store-bought way to open your nose, and for occasional use that's a fine reason to buy it. It lifts much like the original. But both real-user sentiment and our own test say the adhesion and staying power sit a step below Breathe Right Extra Strength, and it's still single-use. Great for the once-in-a-while stuffy night; the name brand earns its premium for nightly use.
width:NN% and .val numbers once our notes are final.Unboxing
A plain store-brand carton of individually wrapped strips, picked up on a normal Walmart run. No presentation, no extras, which is exactly what a house brand should be. The whole pitch is on the shelf tag: it looks like a Breathe Right Extra Strength Clear strip, sold in bulk, for less.
Setup & first impressions
Setup is identical to any flat strip: clean and dry the nose, peel the backing, center over the nasal valve, press the ends down. The spring lift felt close to the name brand on first wear, a real, gentle open. On feel alone in the first minute, you'd struggle to tell it apart from Breathe Right.
Ease of use
Easy to apply, nothing to clean, nothing inside the nose. The difference shows up over a full night: the adhesion is where the store brand gives a little back. Real-user reviews repeatedly flag staying power, and that tracks with the budget positioning, oil, sweat, or movement seem to lift it a touch sooner than the name brand. Skin prep helps, but it's the main corner that got cut.
Pricing & value
This is the entire reason to buy Equate. As Walmart's house brand it's the cheapest in-store Breathe Right alternative, sold in bulk, and it's right there on a shelf you're probably already walking past. For occasional use, a stuffy cold, an allergy night, the value is excellent and the adhesion gap barely matters. For a nightly habit, the name brand's better hold may be worth the extra cost.
Customer support
As a mass-retail store brand, there's no direct-to-consumer support, you take returns back to Walmart. There's no DTC relationship or subscription to manage. Worth noting only as a contrast with the dilator brands, where support and subscription handling are part of the product.
Overall effectiveness
Equate does the core job: it opens the nose with a lift close to the original at a meaningfully lower price. The honest caveat, backed by real-user sentiment and our own test, is that adhesion and staying power land a step below Breathe Right Extra Strength, so it's better suited to occasional use than a nightly routine. And like every adhesive strip we've tried, it didn't fully stop our snoring, confirming again that our snoring doesn't start in the nose. As the cheapest store-bought alternative for an occasional stuffy night, it earns its spot.
Best nasal strips for snoring → · Best for congestion → · Breathe Right review → · All hands-on reviews →