Groom & Clean

[FireDragon76]

Groom & Clean is one of my favorite hair care products. It's better than Brylcreem, which seems to get alot of luv among traditional wetshavers, but I always found it far too greasy: causing acne and being difficult to wash out. Groom & Clean can give you the same look, but it's far more versatile and user friendly, being water based, it rinses out easily. You can use it in small amounts to condition your hair, or larger amounts to style your hair. With modern shampoos I typically use 1/8 to a 1/4 an inch and it serves as a decent leave-in conditioner. If you want to style your hair in a wet look, you can use about 1/2 an inch.

I also use it to clean and condition shaving brushes. I just mix a little bit in water and swirl and soak my brushes in it. This is important to do whenever I get a dirty vintage brush, as time and age will make the bristle more fragile. The lanolin and glycerin are the sort of things that preservationists use to initially begin restoration of leather. From there, I can move on to actually cleaning and conditioning the brush. But the Groom & Clean provides the initial care that the brush needs to survive the process.

The fragrance is also nice. It's more assertive than Brylcreem, but it has a nice woodsy sandalwood oriental type scent that blends well with most men's fragrances.

 

[GeorgeTurner202]

Groom & Clean is one of my favorite hair care products. It's better than Brylcreem, which seems to get alot of luv among traditional wetshavers, but I always found it far too greasy: causing acne and being difficult to wash out. Groom & Clean can give you the same look, but it's far more versatile and user friendly, being water based, it rinses out easily. You can use it in small amounts to condition your hair, or larger amounts to style your hair. With modern shampoos I typically use 1/8 to a 1/4 an inch and it serves as a decent leave-in conditioner. If you want to style your hair in a wet look, you can use about 1/2 an inch.

I also use it to clean and condition shaving brushes. I just mix a little bit in water and swirl and soak my brushes in it. This is important to do whenever I get a dirty vintage brush, as time and age will make the bristle more fragile. The lanolin and glycerin are the sort of things that preservationists use to initially begin restoration of leather. From there, I can move on to actually cleaning and conditioning the brush. But the Groom & Clean provides the initial care that the brush needs to survive the process.

The fragrance is also nice. It's more assertive than Brylcreem, but it has a nice woodsy sandalwood oriental type scent that blends well with most men's fragrances.

It's a very easy-to-use product. It really just rinses out without using any soap/shampoo if you want. The look and the scent are very subtle - even if it builds up a bit. I think it's been around for many years - I've had it around for longer than I can recall! Lots of guys seem to prefer it over tonics and the somewhat heavier VO5 and Brylcreem sorts of things.

 

[EL Alamein]

I have used it for many years to produce a slicked-back look. It's excellent for that especially mixed with a brilliantine. I used Yardley's to mix mine. Just the right amount of hold and shine.

I don't really use it now because at my age a slicked-back look doesn't quite look as appropriate in a corporate environment. It worked well when I was younger.

Now if I want a little hold and conditioning I use Beau Kreml hair tonic. Works a treat but I don't need it often.

Still a great product though for many reasons as stated above. A little or a lot can produce just the look you're going for.

Chris

 

[FireDragon76]

Is that similar to Vitalis? That's another one I sometimes have used.

 

[EL Alamein]

Is that similar to Vitalis? That's another one I sometimes have used.

If you are asking if the Beau Kreml is like Vitalis then yes. It's an exact copy save the scent which is different and much more subdued in the Beau Kreml. It's the Barbershop version of Vitalis and sold by Barber supply stores.

The subdued scent is why I prefer it over Vitalis otherwise the performance is the same.

Chris

 

[GeorgeTurner202]

Vitalis doesn't seem to have much hold but it was used on me all the time as a kid. I don't think the scent is real strong but that's not what you read in reviews of it as a product. The chief complaint most guys seem to have is the scent being far too strong. I've never tried the Beau Kreml unless its been used on me at a barbershop. I'll try finding it and see what I think.

 

[EL Alamein]

George, it's great for conditioning hair, not so much for hold.

For me the conditioning aspect is what I want because when my hair seems dry it gets fly away or wispy (I have a full head) and it can tickle the forehead etc and not remain in place. The tonic mitigates that for me. Thankfully I don't need it often but when I do it works a treat.

Chris

 

[FireDragon76]

Vitalis doesn't seem to have much hold but it was used on me all the time as a kid. I don't think the scent is real strong but that's not what you read in reviews of it as a product. The chief complaint most guys seem to have is the scent being far too strong. I've never tried the Beau Kreml unless its been used on me at a barbershop. I'll try finding it and see what I think.

Vitalis has some hold due to the kind of alcohol used as an additive (it's a resinous, viscous fluid), it's sort of like what they had before they had hair gels, so it's just a soft hold (women used to set their curlers with this stuff back in the 40's and 50's). A little less than Brylcreem or Groom & Clean, but not much. It's not really a hair tonic in the usual sense, more of a styling product.

Clubman's hair gel has a similar effect, with an entirely different fragrance. It's also a soft hold.

 

[tankerjohn]

Groom & Clean is a great old school product. It does tend to make my hair crusty like gel does. And I definitely hate the pumpkin bread scent, which to me starts really strong, but fades. Otherwise, it works well and always leaves my hair feeling great after I wash it out.

 

[FireDragon76]

The scent of G&C is strong if you use alot of it, which is why I think it was probably intended to be used as a leave-in conditioner with the average haircuts of the 60's, and not really intended to produce a greaser or wet look. In small amounts, it just reminds me vaguely of sandalwood or bay rum barbershop type scents.

With modern shampoo all you really need is a small amount, much less than in the day when people were using what was basically the same as dishwashing liquid on their hair (I think it was called Prel, that's what my mom talked about that they used back in the 50's. Now days we'ld call that a clarifying shampoo, it's meant to strip your hair of everything.). If you are going the petroleum pomade route, you definitely want something like that, but for everybody else, that's a bit too extreme.