Do you wash your moustache?

[Rusty Blade]

Well, for starters, I don't. But it occurred to me that my moustache is likely a place where a lot of things accumulate, for example, wax, food, dribbles from the nose, and anything else that might happen to land on my whiskers. But I find if I shampoo my 'stache it becomes very unruly and it takes quite a bit of wax to tame the beast. Okay...when I shower some water runs through it, but there are no fingers or soap involved. Every morning after I shower and shave I comb my 'stache and lay in some wax and style it to the desired shape. I don't shampoo or make any particular effort to wash it...unless of course, on the odd occasion, I've eaten something that was particularly messy (e.g double cheeseburger with the works including bacon, and several sauces) and the only way to get it out is to rinse my 'stache under the tap. I find often a fine tooth comb will remove any crusty bits. Maybe i'm overthinking this, but is it really necessary to wash your moustache? Opinions welcomed. And if you do what is your process?

 

[Aldwyn]

I carry a full bear and mustache, except for Nov - March (and sometimes as long as June) when I grow out the handlebar.

When I shampoo my hair each morning in the shower, my beard and mustache also get a shampoo.

So long story short, my beard/mustache... handlebar or not.. .get a shampoo each morning.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Got a stache and 2 foot long red goat, every morning they both get shampooed and conditioned, then I chuck some of the same stuff in I use for my hair.

 

[Demolition]

I used to use regular shampoo on my moustache and beard, but the skin underneath got irritated. Apparently, facial skin is a lot more sensitive than scalp skin. I tried a bunch of shampoos, plus various skin lotions afterwards, but the irritation remained.

Then, while buying some Proraso in the drug store, I spied the Proraso Single Blade Beard Wash (Wood & Spice). I bought a bottle and used it according to the instructions. Hooray! No more irritated skin. It also softened my beard and moustache hair. Plus, it smells nice.

So, now, I use the beard wash twice a week, as instructed.

 

[troy]

Full beard (currently almost a foot long) with slight natural looking handlebar. I at least rinse my beard and stache almost every day and wash at least a couple to several times a week just depends how dirty it gets. I have a couple beard washes, but also use regular shampoo if it's very dirty. When it's longer like now I also use conditioner to help comb through split ends. At 6 inches or I rarely bother with conditioner as it seems to add too much body and becomes unruly. I don't really like to look or feel or wax in the stache, but do use just a bit of honest amish beard wax for just the stache and I comb through it thoroughly. Seems to give it just enough control for me. For the beard just oil no balms or waxes. I like it to be able to move and go with the flow through the day.

 

[Badgerstate36]

You should be washing it at least a couple times a week. Back when my beard was longer, I would wash it every time I took a shower.
With your mustache, you have to figure all of the nasty stuff that gets in it: saliva, muscus from your nose, food particles, the bacteria that feeds on the food particles. All of that is stuff that you probably want to be washing out at least a couple times a week, maybe more if you work a job where you sweat a lot or get really dirty/greasy.

 

[RogerStenning]

I wash mine daily, soap and water, right before a shave. I also keep it trimmed (mine is one of those damned brush-style moustaches!) fairly short, which reduces the collection factor by many orders of magnitude

 

[RookieGuy]

Every other day I'll wash the facial fur. Well, every day in the shower I run my fingers through and rinse it out really good. But every other shower I hit it with soap. Nothing fancy, just a bar of whatever soap. When I'm done, it gets a bit of oil and balm. If I'm just rinsing, it's just the balm.

But that's me. I'm blessed in a way. I tend to favor, and wear very well, a more natural style. A little thicker and bushier. Small walrus mustache over what Grizzly Adams had, but about 3.5 inches long. So that would make a difference in the scale of grooming. A natural style allowed to grow over the lip is much more forgiving of a stray hair than, say, an English stache. A rhythm guitar player from a 70s soft rock act (my beard) doesn't need as much brushing and shaping as something more refined.

 

[ChiefHA]

I was mine everyday as well.

 

[Vaporstang]

I wear a mustache and beard during the cold weather months. I keep the trimmed fairly short. I wash at least with soap & water, and sometimes shampoo and then conditioner.

 

[Chevy Novacaine]

I sure do. I lather up with some Honest Amish beard soap, apply it it to whatever facial hair I may be sporting at the time, and work it in for anywhere from 10-20 seconds, and rinse with warm water.