[Dailydrool] Concrete Ear Flaps - cleaning protocol

[Kate Lawson via Dailydrool]

I'm loosing the battle of the ear flaps with Hank, who has the longest, heaviest ears of any basset I have had. He must also have very chemically active drool because the combination of his drool and whatever he drags his ears in (everything) makes instant crud that I can't remove. I have been using a combination of soapy water washes with a surgical sponge and a very gently used flea comb, which will still pull out the hairs with the crud, and baby wipes between washes. The wipes seem ineffective. I don't wash more than once per day and sometimes less. He wears a snood for walks. One time I ordered him a SuperBath at the day care. He came home with the hair totally gone off the center front of his flaps where the concrete builds up.
Does anyone have a successful protocol for the hard cases? I see pictures of long eared hounds with lovely clean ears and I know the show dogs always have clean furry ears.

Kate Lawson
Hank - my ears have bald spots
Daisy - my ears are always clean and furry
clawson at cfl.rr.com