# How do you maintain beards? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224 "2012-02-08T19:55:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/21 "2012-02-08T23:43:18Z")
I don’t trim mine in the bathroom. I trim it in the bedroom and vacuum the debris after. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/22 "2012-02-09T00:21:21Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Be nice to her in general, always remember her birthday of course, and let her choose the movies. Always be willing to be _her_ date as well if… “Posted so I didn’t have to!” ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/23 "2012-02-09T00:56:06Z")
About 7 years ago I decided to just let the beast go and do its thing. I swear it grew to a certain length in a couple of years and it has just kind of stayed at that length. I do have to trim the left side of my face as it seems that side still grows and gets longer but the right side does not so I have to trim the left side down so it matches the right. And to do that I just eyeball it with a trimmer. It sucks though cuz I wanna ZZTop my beard but it does seem to have stopped in length or if it is still growing it is at such a slow rate that I don’t notice it. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/24 "2012-02-09T01:02:06Z")
do a ZZ Top and let it grow til the hairs reach their terminal length. when i trim i use a head hair clipper with the deepest depth, wide and powerful and quick. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/25 "2012-02-09T05:32:30Z")
I used scissors for over 30 years. 2 years ago I got tired of that and bought this Remington trimmer, which works fine. [http://www.amazon.com/Remington-MB-200-Titanium-Mustache-Trimmer/dp/B0009OMU0A/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1328764933&sr=1-1](http://www.amazon.com/Remington-MB-200-Titanium-Mustache-Trimmer/dp/B0009OMU0A/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1328764933&sr=1-1) As already suggested, I plug the sink and make sure I get the few stray hairs on the counter around the sink. The Philips Norelco model is more expensive, and I figure a vacuum is just one more thing that could break. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/26 "2012-02-09T17:32:16Z")
Regular electric shaver with trimmer to shave the non-desired beard areas (cheeks, neck, under my lower lip) and along the edges. Scissors and a comb to keep the beard at desired length. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/27 "2012-02-09T17:36:19Z")
I must be unusual. :eek: I’ve had a beard (and moustache) for 38 years. (I had it shaved off for charity once in that time.) I don’t own scissors or trimmer. Once a month, when i get my haircut, I have the beard trimmed. That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/28 "2012-02-09T17:46:15Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I must be unusual. :eek: > > I’ve had a beard (and moustache) for 38 years. > (I had it shaved off for charity once in that time.) > > I don’t own scissors or trimmer. > Once a month, when i get my haircut, I have the beard trimmed. > > That’s it. When I was in my 20s I often just had the barber do it. Any barber was skilled at beard trimming. But now it’s hard to find one that canl do a proper trim for the wild growth I have. One guy nearby will do it, but he has a line of old men coming in for their straight razor shaves, so it’s hard to do a walk-in there. The two women working for him just use the clippers, adequately, but no better than I can do without effort. Another guy does the fancy line trims for the kids, but he charges a lot, and even if you have an appointment you could just end up with his goofy associate. I don’t have to cut my hair anymore so I don’t go to the barber once a month anymore either. I let it grow long whenever it’s practical, but eventually I’ll have another reason not cut my hair anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/29 "2012-02-09T18:07:51Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Once a month, when i get my haircut, I have the beard trimmed. I do the shaved-head thing. Well, sort of. Every couple weeks I run the trimmer over my scalp and jaw at a number 1 and call it good. (Thinking about doing the scalp at 1 and the beard at 2, but anyway.) No need to pay someone for a haircut. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/30 "2012-02-09T18:28:43Z")
First I take an electric trimmer with the attachment length I want and give the whole thing a good going over, usually with the grain but sometimes a little left and right too just to catch the strays. I might use a shorter length under the chin and jaw so that my shirt collar can’t fluff anything up. Then I use a triple blade razor on anything I actually shave and the special trim blade on the opposite side to fine tune the edges. Then I’ll usually use a good pair of beard scissors just to make sure everything is nice and neat. ---
**Author:** ![thatguyjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6de8d8/32.png) [@thatguyjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatguyjeff)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/31 "2012-02-09T18:31:14Z")
TRIM OUTSIDE! Seriously. I keep my trimmer in the garage and a hand mirror out there. Plug it in to an extension cord and stand in the backyard. Nothing to clean up! I do this only for trimming the length. I still do the shaping and whatnot in the bathroom with the razor. Surprised though that no one has mentioned what a PITA it is to have and maintain facial hair. That is, unless you’re a neck-beard, ZZ-Top hillbilly. IMHO - clean shaven is so much easier. It’s like mowing your lawn vs. mowing a golf course. For my lawn, it’s all the same length - just go over the whole thing with the mower and I’m done. But a golf course has shapes, things are mowed to different lengths sometimes, and if you don’t do it right it looks scraggly and just bad. But I’m a beard guy. Looks better on me - I don’t have much of a chin. Edit to add - in the winter I do go indoors for trimming. But I do it in the laundry room over the laundry tub. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/32 "2012-02-09T21:12:06Z")
In the past, I would trim standing in the shower, with my shirt off. Then, rub my chest vigorously to knock off any stray hairs. The shower drain can handle the tiny clippings better than the sink can. These days I use a [Wahl Peanut](http://www.amazon.com/Wahl-8655-Peanut-Shaped-Clipper/dp/B000M1IX92/). You get a lot more power in a corded model, and the batteries never crap out on you. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/33 "2012-02-09T21:26:11Z")
I also trim my goatee in the shower about once a week, just before I shower my body. There’s a mirror hanging in the shower, because that’s where I shave the rest of my face every day. Never had a problem with the drain. I use an electric beard trimmer for the beard, but I use a regular hair clipper on my scalp hair about once a month. That’s not in the shower, though (that WOULD screw the drain), but in the bedroom in front of a full-length mirror and standing on an easy-to-vacuum wooden floor. Yeah, I’m a cheap b@stard. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224/34 "2012-02-09T23:57:26Z")
As far as I can tell there is no beard growth slowdown with age, nor a “terminal length”. When I sense I am getting to Solzhenitsyn length, I use whatever cheap electric trimmer device in the bathroom drawer that is still working. As far as other “maintenance” - when the Labrador gets too interested in my beard it is probably time for a shampoo. The last time I was clean-shaven was probably sometime during the early Reagan presidency. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-maintain-beards/612224.md?page=1)