Minimizing Beard Mess

December 12, 2004 2:48 PM

FaceFurFilter 4.0:

I have a full beard and have been leaving sinks full of offerings for the Shaven Yak for about 15 years now. I never really worried about clean up too much (I did it, just didn't worry about it). However, it's starting to annoy me in my old age, and I was wondering if any of my Bewhiskered Brethren have any tips to share on minimizing the mess.
posted by ad hoc to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (19 answers total)

I don't have a beard, but I do have a thick mess of curly hair down to my lower back that I regularly trim myself--outdoors. I just take the mirror down from my bedroom wall and prop it up against the house and go to work.
posted by cilantro at 2:58 PM on December 12, 2004

I've been annoyed by this for ages, even though my own hirsute nature is limited to the hipster beard. (Not to say a goatee, mind.)

Anyway, I find a couple of glasses of water, poured onto the edge of the sink to wash everything towards the drain is the only thing that works. It washes the hairs down without letting them float. Weirdly enough, my girlfriend taught me that when I asked her. I didn't ask why she had an answer.

If you _have_ been trimming a yack in your half-bath, and you have a sink full of water with hairs floating on top in such a way that they will never go down the drain even in the event of nuclear holocaust, you might try adding soap. It helps.
posted by metaculpa at 3:04 PM on December 12, 2004

I find, that rather than trimming into a sink, I cover the basin with paper towelling and simply throw that in the bin afterwards.

Alternatively, you could just use a simple cotton sheet and shake it out in the back yard afterwards.
posted by cheaily at 3:12 PM on December 12, 2004

Cutting my beard with scissors is chaos; the long wiry bristles go everywhere. Have you tried an electric beard trimmer? Kind of a razor with an adjustable 'hood', for want of a better word? Mine allows me to trim by small, incremental amounts. The smaller lengths seem to fall more readily into the sink, and the trimmer allows for some interesting tonsorial experiments, when you're really bored.
posted by punilux at 3:33 PM on December 12, 2004

what i do is...grab scissors, small hand type mirror, strip down , stand in shower, trim, then shower. works for me.
posted by ShawnString at 3:46 PM on December 12, 2004

I second ShawnString's suggestion - that's exactly what I do. Although I've taken the additional step of buying a little drainguard thingy, since, after a while, those Shaven Yak offerings can do some serious cloggin'.
posted by Dr. Wu at 4:27 PM on December 12, 2004

One word: Flowbee
posted by gren at 4:37 PM on December 12, 2004

Weirdly enough, my girlfriend taught me that when I asked her. I didn't ask why she had an answer.

From cleaning up after you, of course. ;)

Anyway, that's my trick too. When cleaning up after the spouse. But lately he has started cleaning it up himself -- I think he's actually doing the paper towel technique now. And yay for him, I say.
posted by litlnemo at 4:41 PM on December 12, 2004

Ugh, hair in drain. Definitely go for the standing-on-a-sheet option. My mother trims my stepdad's beard for him with an old shower curtain/towel/sheet (the fabric kind, not plastic) draped around him like a barber's wossit, and a sheet underneath on the floor. No hair in clothes, and you can shake the hair straight into the rubbish. I've never heard the paper towel one, but that's a cool idea.

Seriously, anything but hair in the drain.
posted by tracicle at 5:21 PM on December 12, 2004

I take a paper grocery sack, rip the corners and make a little shelf on each side. That catches about 90% of the trimmings, if you're careful. The rest can be cleaned up fairly easily with some toilet paper, then water down the drain.
posted by Ufez Jones at 5:40 PM on December 12, 2004

I use a beard trimmer over the sink. My beard is pretty heavy and I tend to let it get a bit wild so if i just washed it down the drain it would clog. I wipe up the bulk of the cuttings with a piece of a tissue and flush... the rest i just wash down the drain.

It's a pain dealing with the hair that misses the sink though. I use a wet tissue and round them up best i can. I find the closer I am to the sink the less hair misses.
posted by srboisvert at 7:05 PM on December 12, 2004

Cover the sink with an open sheet of newspaper. As long as the paper is dry, the hair will slide off when you dump it into a wastebasket.
posted by pmurray63 at 7:10 PM on December 12, 2004

I give my self a buzzcut all the time. I Just put newspaper down.
posted by puke & cry at 7:24 PM on December 12, 2004

Hair down the drain? Uh-uh. Beard trimmings will definitely clog up a drain. What I do is spread a large bath towel over the sink when I'm trimming to catch the clippings, then I shake it out outside.
posted by AstroGuy at 8:26 PM on December 12, 2004

Beard trimmer over a dry sink. I use a shaving brush to sweep it into a pile, pick it up and throw it away. The remains I rinse down the sink by directing the flow of water down the sides of the basin with my hand so there are no floaties that redistribute.
posted by plinth at 3:42 AM on December 13, 2004

Seriously, besides the Flowbee option (which my gf threatened me with on a daily basis), before I lopped my entire large, lovely beard off, I would just put the waste basket into the sink (it fit perfectly) and a good 90% would wind up in there...followed by the wet toilet paper cleanup that seems to be widely used here (good to know I wasnt alone on that one).
posted by gren at 5:20 AM on December 13, 2004

I just recently started using a vacuum cleaner after my monthly haircut/beard trim. Just stick on the brush attachment and go to it. Just have to make sure your sink is dry if that's where you do the shaving. Makes for a very quick and easy clean-up.
posted by picea at 6:36 AM on December 13, 2004

I use a towel, per AstroGuy's suggestion.
I can't wait for the day when I don't have to cut my beard any more and can let it go all long and mountain man.
posted by maniactown at 3:16 PM on December 13, 2004

Cilantro's answer is the only sane one so far. Hair and nail trimmings belong in the garden, not indoors.
posted by flabdablet at 4:09 PM on December 13, 2004