Beard Wash

“Clean Copy” · 8 oz · 240 ml

$28

Sulfate-free, mild enough for the skin underneath, and it actually rinses. Beard hair is coarser than head hair and the skin beneath it is face skin, which is why shampoo is the wrong tool.

Add to Bag · $28

Size8 oz · 240 ml

ScentRecord Store — cedar · warm dust · vinyl

MadeBy hand in Washington DC, in one batch per release

ShippingFree in the US. Details

How to use it

A ten-pence-sized amount, worked into the skin under the beard rather than the hair.
Rinse longer than feels necessary.
Two or three times a week, not daily.
Oil goes on straight after, while the beard is still damp.

What is in it

Ingredient	Amount	What it is doing
Distilled water	60%	Distilled, never tap. Tap water is how a batch gets contaminated.
Decyl glucoside	15%	The main surfactant. Sugar-derived and genuinely mild.
Cocamidopropyl betaine	12%	Secondary surfactant. Builds the foam and softens the decyl glucoside.
Sodium cocoyl isethionate	5%	Creamy lather instead of squeaky lather.
Vegetable glycerin	3%	Humectant. Stops the tight feeling after rinsing.
Panthenol (pro-vitamin B5)	1%	Conditioning, and it survives the surfactants.
Hydroxyethylcellulose	1.5%	Thickener. Without it this pours like water.
Broad-spectrum preservative	1%	Non-negotiable. See the warning below.
Citric acid	to pH 4.5–5.5	Beard hair and face skin both prefer slightly acidic.
Fragrance blend	0.8%	Release 001, dosed low — this is a rinse-off that touches the eyes.

Before this one is sold. This is the only product in the run that contains water, and water means it can grow bacteria and mould. It must carry a broad-spectrum preservative — Geogard ECT or Optiphen ND at the supplier's stated rate. Vitamin E is not a preservative. Grapefruit seed extract is not a preservative. Before this goes on sale it needs its pH checked with a meter, not strips, and it should be sent for challenge testing. If you would rather skip all of that, the honest alternative is a solid syndet bar with no water in it, and I would build that instead.

Cosmetic product. It softens and conditions hair and the skin beneath it. It will not make your beard grow, and anyone who tells you their oil does is lying to you. Patch test on the inside of your elbow first if you have reacted to a grooming product before.

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