What is a beard bonnet? [All your questions answered]

A beard bonnet is also known as a beard bandanna, beard durag, beard guard, and beard rag. They have become increasingly popular due to their protection to beards during sleeping and where you wouldn’t want your beard to pick up food or smells. They can be used as part of your daily Beard maintenance as they are inexpensive, reusable, and some people swear by them.

A beard bonnet is made from a low friction material covering and supporting the beard under the chin. It is held in place by elasticated straps and comes in various sizes for different beard lengths.

A beard bonnet is often a double-layered construction with satin or silk on the inner layer. The satin or silk inner layer reduces the friction that your beard encounters while sleeping, and it can significantly reduce the number of breakages caused by torsional strain.

Another important factor is how the beard bonnet stays on your beard. There are two types. There can be ear loops or elasticated straps which cover the entire head. Ensuring that the material is comfortable and the elasticated loops are not too tight will increase your comfort throughout the day or night.

Very often, beard wraps come in different sizes. You should choose a size that is suitable for both your beard length and thickness. It is preferable not to use a beard wrap that is too tight as it will be uncomfortable on your face all night.

Measure from ear to ear, measuring the full shape of the beard, i.e. not the chin, to measure your perfect size. If you have a full beard, you may want to cut the length in half and fold the beard into the beard wrap to make it easier and more comfortable to wear.

There are various benefits to using a beard bonnet which we will go over in the next section.

Beard bonnet benefits

There are many beard bonnet benefits, including protecting your beard from breakages, helping you protect your beard throughout the day, stopping food from landing in your beard, protecting your beard from UV rays and much more.

Beard bonnet for sleeping

Using a beard bonnet for sleeping is one of the most popular ways to use this product. Some people find that they are a little bit embarrassed about wearing a beard bonnet throughout the day. While you are sleeping, however, that doesn’t have to become an issue.

If you move a lot while sleeping, a beard bandage can protect you from breakage and damage to your facial hair.

When we move while we sleep, hares are often trapped to twist and bend them naturally. Each of these movements damages the outer lining of the hair, which means it is more susceptible to damage from sunlight and pollution. If you move particularly aggressively during sleep, you may even snap hairs by rubbing against your pillow over and over.

A beard wrap means you minimize the curling stress on your beard hair as a silk or satin lining creates a smoother surface for your beard to sit on. The slippery nature of these materials means they are less likely to get stuck and unnecessarily stressed.

Another great thing about a beard bonnet is that it allows you to sleep with beard products (such as beard oil, beard balm, or beard butter) in your beard.

You can sleep with product in your beard                    

First, wearing a beard wrap means it won’t just land on your sheet if you apply beard oil before bed. If you want to know more about beard oil before bed, check out my other article – Beard Oil Before Bed: Is It A Waste Of Time And Money? – Click here.

The thing is, if you add beard oil before bed, it will most likely land on your sheet, not where you need it, which is near your beard.

Most men use beard oil in the morning as part of their daily routine, but using it at night can be an emergency and deep hydration treatment for your beard. The good thing about doing it at night is that you put on a little more than usual, use a beard wrap, and then leave the oil on for a much longer period. It is certainly a great way to ensure that you get the most impact from your beard oil applications.

It helps protect your beard from breakages

beard owners often twist and play with their hair throughout the day. By using a beard bonnet, you can ensure that you do not pull at your beard as a matter of habit.

Humans are essentially a habit loop that plays over and over again.

Habits are formed because the brain does not want to make decisions. This habit loop can be performed almost unknowingly to save energy in the brain.

Some of our habits, such as eating fruit and going for a run, are wonderful. Others may not be very beneficial to our lives, which may include rubbing or picking our beards.

Trichotillomania

There is a habit of plucking called trichotillomania. If you can’t stop stroking or pulling your beard, this may be the case. It’s a mental disorder with an irresistible urge to pull hair from your beard, even though you’re trying everything you can to stop it.

A beard bonnet may help you look after your beard.

It stops food from getting in your beard

One of the most annoying things about growing a beard is the amount of food that gets stuck in it.

No matter the length of your beard, it becomes a trap for crumbs and other bits of food that fall from your mouth during eating. For most people, it ends up on their lap for a beard grower it ends up in their beard.

I have also recently found that, due to the extreme length of my beard, it can easily dip into the food that I am eating. It is particularly problematic with soup or other food where I have to get close to the plate or bowl.

Using a beard bonnet means that I know where my beard is, and it is much shorter because it is held against my chin. The shorter length stops it from getting into a wide variety of foods and is generally better for everyone. I always feel bad about people having to watch a bearded person struggle with food in their beard.

Can protect your beard from UV rays

During the day, your beard is subject to outside environmental conditions. One of the most damaging environmental aspects of having a beard is UV rays.

UV rays can cause dryness, brittleness, and the production of free radicals that can damage your beard hair from the inside out. UV rays can also bleach beard hairs causing them to look much lighter. Beard lightening is much more common in people of Caucasian descent.

Wearing a beard bonnet puts a physical barrier between your beard and the UV rays. Many of the beard bites are completely opaque, and they will easily stop any sun damage.

Protect your beard from getting caught

Any loose-fitting clothing or hair can easily get caught in machines if you work in an industrial environment. Also, if you are regularly doing DIY with your home maintenance power tools, a beard can easily get caught.

A beard bonnet lets you safely package up your beard into a single mass that hangs from under your chin and is much less likely to get caught in any spending power tools.

Even the slightest of touches between your beard hair and a rapidly spinning tool can cause catastrophic injuries. If you do not have a beard bonnet as part of your normal protective equipment, I highly recommend getting yourself a good quality one that is comfortable to wear throughout your tool usage.

Protect your beard hairs from falling into food

Not only do beard bonnets protect your beard, but they can also protect your beard hairs from falling out into food or other areas.

If you prepare food, wearing a beard bonnet can protect the food from stray hairs during cooking. We can lose as many as 50 beard hairs a day. Typically they fall out when washing, combing and maintaining your beard, but they can also fall out naturally.

Anything which requires a certain amount of hygiene would be performed better by using a beard bonnet to catch any hairs that fall out.

Protect your beard from smells

In your daily life, many things smell and are absorbed by your beard. Even if you work in the office, plenty of opportunities throughout the day of smoke, pollution, and dirt penetrate your beard.

can beards smell? header image

Even on weekends, the scent can soak into your beard. You may be barbecuing with your friends, sitting near a smoky campfire, or it could be many other activities.

The only real way to overcome the absorption of odours into your beard is to wear a beard bandana or something that covers your beard. Alternatively, it is important to regularly clean your beard with high-quality beard products and beard shampoo.

If you decide to wear a beard bonnet, I highly recommend that you wash your beard regularly, as the sweat and sebum produced by your skin can easily get trapped against the beard for longer periods.

Protect your beard from abrasive dust

It is very important to protect your beard from any abrasive dust in the environment. Small sharp particulates can penetrate the beard and cause damage to the deepest parts of your beard.

If you regularly cut concrete, have metal particles in the environment, cut wood, use sanding equipment or work in a particularly dusty environment, the particles can end up in your beard. Once they are in the depths of your beard, they are very hard to remove, and the sharp micro particulates can slowly cut away at your beard hairs.

As soon as the small particles start to damage the outside layer of the beard – the cuticle – it is only a matter of time until the hair becomes weakened through dryness and surface damage.

Wearing a beard bonnet while working in dusty industrial conditions will stop the majority of the particulates from penetrating deep into your beard.

How to make a beard bonnet

Sewing

If you are handy with a sewing machine, you can easily create a beard bonnet. I have been sewing for a couple of years, and all you need is a simple sewing machine, material, and elastic to create your very own beard bonnet made and tailored to fit your beard.

Bandana

If you do not want to purchase a commercially available beard wrap, you can make your own. You can use any satin or silk-like material and tie it around your face like a scarf. It may not be as comfortable as a commercially available one, but it will still do the trick if you do not want to purchase one.

Check out this YouTube video where the presenter talks about an alternative to beard wraps.

Best beard bonnets

One of the best beard bids on the market at the moment is beardbib by beard gains.com.

What is a beard bonnet? [Expert Answers]

This beard bonnet is available in two shapes: a short cord earloop or a long head loop. This is one of the main reasons it’s high on my list. The versatility of hanging the beard wrap over your ears or over your head means you can choose what is most comfortable for you while you sleep. This is one of the most important aspects of using a beard wrap to ensure it doesn’t interfere with sleep.

The beard wrap has a silk lining so that any beard oils that you add to your beard before going to bed do not penetrate your pillowcase but instead stay where they can have the best effect. It also allows you to sleep on your side without your beard becoming tangled or twisting to the point where it has become brittle.

If you have a big beard, you should check out Fidelis health’s XL beard headscarf. It is made of high-quality satin, which is very suitable for use while sleeping. It has an XL size, 18 inches long and 8 inches wide. It has an additional strategy with straps, which means that if you use it overnight, you are unlikely to experience any obvious ear pain or discomfort.

Beard bonnet on Amazon

There are several options for bandanas and beard bands on Amazon, the most popular being the generic brand beard bandana. In this case, for about $ 15, you get nine beard wraps, which means you have many things to use while some are washed or stored in other homes. They can be used throughout the day to stop hair loss in food production or prevent food from entering the beard.

Summary

In this article, we have gone over everything you need to know about a beard bonnet and all of the benefits of a beard bonnet can provide to your beard.

Many people feel self-conscious about wearing a beard bonnet, but they are becoming increasingly popular to wear during the daytime and while sleeping.

Beard bonnets can protect your beard from breakages, keep it soft and supple, and allow you to enjoy a deep hydration treatment overnight by using it in combination with beard products.

Purchasing a beard bonnet is certainly something that you should consider if your beard remains dry or if you work in a particularly hazardous environment for your beard.

The Author


Andy Stapleton

Andy is a writer and YouTuber with a PhD in science. He has written and/or produced videos for Science Alert, COSMOS magazine, and Australia's Science Channel among others. He is an avid beard grower and after many years of growing and trialling different beard styles, he started this blog to share the tips, tricks, and science that he has learned along the way!