For years, we’ve praised beard owners for their hipster, macho cool. These are the types of men who could walk into bars and impress women with their potent facial follicles alone – but little do these debonair gents realise the number of germs lurking in their untrimmed fuzz.

According to various tabloids, a recent study has shown that some beards are dirtier than toilets – and collect more faecal matter.

Company Quest Diagnostics swabbed a number of beards and found that the germs comparable to toilets were worryingly high.

The key to a clean beard was, as you might expect, the usual advice – keep your hands clean and stop stroking your beard like a Greek philosopher.

Dirty beards: the truth?

You probably saw this story float around news site and social media for the past month or so – but some sectors of the internet are claiming that it’s a tale taller than the average curve on a hipster’s moustache.

Originating on Mexican television, the study actually found enteric bacteria which, although associated with faecal matter, actually comes in many harmless variations.

According to national newspaper the Guardian, the body is so prone to diversity in microbes that there isn’t necessarily a cause for concern.

But whether the story is true or false, effective hand hygiene is still one of the most important factors for a cleaner beard.

You might be stroking your beard or wiping sweat from your forehead, but you’ll be covering yourself in malicious bacteria either way.

Investing in a high-quality washroom means that the bearded hipsters and common-garden clean-shaven will have hands free of harmful bacteria. You might not be able to trust everything you read on the internet – but you can trust that spotless hands equal a gleaming working environment.