Five Alternate (And Life-Saving) Uses for Five Men's Grooming Products
Should your problem-solving skills wane, look to 1985’s most dangerous man, MacGuyver, for a good jolt of inspiration.
Image: Paramount Network Television
Give a primate an ecosystem and a rock, and it’ll feed his kin.
Give Sarah Connor a paperclip, and she’ll end you.
Give a man with wits the bare minimum — anywhere, anytime — and if the going’s gotten tough, he’ll take care of it.
Resourcefulness — there isn’t a single, more crucial skill, especially if we’re talking survival. Out there, in the cold, unforgiving tundra, it’s always been do or die, and it always will be. And whether or not you make it comes down to how you’ll win with what little you’ll have.
Luckily for you, though, this post concerns a less violent (though no less epic) battle — the one we wage against time itself, every day.
Actually, it’s about that and saving money, and who, in their right mind, wouldn’t want more of those two? Not a man of action, like you.
Come, it’s learning time.
How to Clean Your Hats With Our Beard Brush
Wash your damn hands. A man keeps his shit in good shape, and you just had Oreos.
Grab your fitted ball cap (or fedora, or driving cap, or whatever), flip it upside down and, if the cap has a brim, get it on the side and hold it at the part where the top meets the bottom of the crown, right down the centre. This’ll give you some leverage.
Make note of the grooves in the hat’s fabrication. Is it a wool ball cap, with a clear, diagonal pattern of textured fabric on the crown, or is it something like a tweed driving cap with no visible grooves or patterns? This will matter.
Grab our beard brush and, with the lightest of pressure, start sweeping the hat with short, yet firm strokes. If it’s one of those aforesaid ball caps, brush downward with the grain of the fabric, starting from the base of the crown. And if it’s something with no pattern, like a fedora, use circular strokes (go counter clockwise so the debris flies away from you), and easy does it; ball caps are usually tougher than dressier fare.
Bonus: How To Wash Your Beard Brush
What, you didn’t think we’d skip this part, did you?
One. Grab a small bowl and fill it halfway with some warm water.
Two. Mix about a teaspoon’s worth of liquid soap (yes, the kind for hands will do) into the water and stir that sucker with back end of your shaving razor (you just cleaned half your shaving razor, nice).
Three. You should see suds now, so grab that brush and swirl it around your cleaning concoction with its bristles facing downward. Do this for about 40 to 60 seconds.
Four. Rinse that brush with hot water (20 seconds is enough).
Five. Lastly, air your beard brush by setting it on its side atop something absorbent, like an extra face towel; You don’t want to stress the hairs with the handle’s weight, nor do you want it sitting upside down. If you do, all that excess water from the wash will seep into said handle.
How to Shave Pilling Off Your Clothes With A Straight (or Double-Edge or Shavette) Razor
Lay the garment upon which you’ll operate down on a table that’s well lit, and make sure to spread it out so it’s flush with the table’s surface.
Make note of all the places where the piece is pilling while grabbing two objects that are flat, clean and hefty, but not too hefty (think two books or something of the like).
Place each weight on either side of target spot one. If you have to, pull the cloth from either side of said spot so it’s taut. The flatter, the better.
Now, with your razor in your best hand, simply “shave” the pilling with short, tempered strokes. There’s no science to mastering the amount of pressure for such a delicate job, so remember this: Just act like the garment is your face. Go hard, and it’ll go wrong. Get it just right and you won’t cut cloth or damage what’s underneath.
If you haven’t smashed a taco or guzzled a beer beforehand, blow away any pilling that settles on the garment while you shave.
Once you’re satisfied, roll a lint brush along your piece for good measure. Bam, like new (almost).
How to Disinfect Your Tooth Brush With Mouthwash
Grab a coffee mug and that poor toothbrush of yours.
Toss in about an ounce to an ounce and a half (or a shot glass’ worth) of our oral rinse.
Now place the toothbrush in head first and let it soak for 10 to 15 minutes (we went with ethanol over isopropyl since the former’s proven to be a better foe for microbes).
Take the toothbrush out of the mug and tremble before its new, Phoenix-like becoming.
How to Take Care of A Nick With Our Lip Repair Balm
Did you go too hard shaving? Happens.
Splash some cold water onto those cuts, it’ll help keep bleeding to a minimum (save for when a real injury happens, anyway).
Pat the target areas dry with a clean cloth designated strictly for this; and do you need to be reminded to throw it in the wash right after? Guess you did.
“Wait, so I’ll have to use a clean cloth every shave?”
Yes.
“But I shave every day!”
Then looks like it’s Ikea time.
Now that the bleeding’s eased up, reach for that lip repair and dab what’s scathed. Dab, not press, not rub, but dab. You want just enough lest the wound not get a chance to breathe.
Now go about your day and let the bacteria eating beeswax do its thing.
How to Use Our Matte Hair Clay As Moustache Wax
You’re wearing a moustache? Someone’s got iron cojones. Nice.
The best time to do this is after you’ve washed your face, but make sure your dirty harry’s not fully dry.
Scoop out a pinky tip’s worth of our Matte Clay, rub it between your index finger and thumb then work the clay through that ‘stache. Tip: Pretend that space that separates your nostrils extends down to your ‘stache and go at it in halves, first one, then the other.
Watch envy flow forth form the hearts of the envious who’ll stare, and smile.