Natural Remedy for Cleaning Ears

Recently I had some pain in one of my ears. On showing it to the Doctor, he noticed that the ear drum was red in color (unhappy ear is what he called it :-)). He recommended using 1 part of white vinegar with 10 parts of water and using them as ear drops. I've been using this method last few days and it has been doing wonders.

What other natural remedies exist for cleaning ears?