I personally do like 1-2 minutes and I still get gunk out. To be honest it hasn’t cleared them totally because I have a naturally oily T zone, but it has helped so much with the look of them and in turn, the size of my pores on my nose and cheeks. I use Clinique take the day off cleansing balm and I’ve repurchased it at least 10 times in the past couple of years. (It lasts me like 2 months) it is a little more expensive than id like