How To Clean Your Hairbrushes Naturally

I’ll admit it: I’ve never once properly cleaned one of my hairbrushes.

Every once in a while I’ll clear out the hair that’s collected, but I’ve never actually taken the time to give my brushes a real cleaning… until today. I just never really thought it was necessary. But you know what? All of those dead skin cells, product remnants, and bits of oil and dust that collect on your hairbrush will actually get redistributed onto your hair if left uncleaned. And to me, that’s a tad gross to even think about.

I’ve searched around for some good hairbrush cleansers that can be made quickly – I came across a bunch of suggestions to use things like chemical-filled clarifying shampoo or ammonia even. But we will not stand for that. Here’s how to clean your hairbrushes the natural way. It’s easy. It’s fast. It’s inexpensive. It’s time you give your hairbrushes the little spa treatment they deserve.

clean hairbrushes naturally

Looks like I’ve already been doing the first step every now and then! The most effective way to clear the hair from your brush is to use a tool like a pen or a comb to help loosen the hair. Once loosened, you can snip some of the hair with scissors to make removal a little easier, but you don’t have to. Use your hands to gather a nice hairball – all that you can possibly collect – and throw that mess away.

clean hairbrushes naturally

For plastic and metal brushes, make a cleanser using a cup of water, a small squirt of castile soap, and a pinch of baking soda. For wooden brushes, use a few drops of tea tree oil in a cup of water. Apply to the bristles as well as the bristle base using a toothbrush, and scrub in upward motions. For plastic and metal brushes, you could opt to fill up the sink with this solution and float them upside down in it for about a minute – just be sure not to fully submerge the brush or go longer than a minute, as this could possibly damage the brush.

clean hairbrushes naturally

For plastic and metal brushes, dip quickly into warm water and swish around for just a few seconds to rinse – do not soak. For wooden brushes, you can spritz a bit of water from a spray bottle instead of soaking.

clean hairbrushes naturally

Lay your brush on a clean towel, bristle-side down, and leave undisturbed until dry. Then, voila! Good as new.

Any of you hair experts out there have tips about brush cleaning? Please share!

Follow Brigette on Instagram, and have a look at her blog and Etsy shop.

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karina
9 years ago

thanks for the tip! i need to clean my hairbrush and combs stat!
xox

9 years ago

Great tip! If only I brushed my hair and owned a hair brush haha!

http://juliettelaura.blogspot.com

9 years ago

I never really thought about the need to do this but now I feel kind of grossed out by it! Will definitely be cleaning mine today lol

Lauren | http://www.livelovelauren.com

Arta
9 years ago

Great tip! Thanks x

9 years ago

Great post! I use Freshana Organic Solutions to clean mine! Works awesome!

9 years ago

This is really great tips. I found another great article relevant to hair damage prevention.
http://tinyurl.com/mvzd84z

9 years ago

Clean hairbrushes and combs are a lot better for our hair than dirty brushes and combs.

A moon baby
9 years ago

I use my own shampoo as a cleaner. Good tips :)

9 years ago

We follow the “natural way” too and we cam up with a commercial solution for hair stylist salon. Basicaly we scrub them and sanitize with steam. The proof of concept it here: http://www.annameryca.com and comments are welcome :)

8 years ago

Cleaning your hairbrush has never been easier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUM-VLfJ_6o

Erin
7 years ago

Hi George the brush wand looks interesting thanks for sharing. I’m assuming you work for the company so I’d like to say : And as a self-proclaimed tomboy I greatly appreciate the variation of colors besides the purple and pink. Love to see companies being respectful that all women are different in their preferences just like any other human being. Of course some men use brushes to so again it’s great to see this project isn’t geared towards any specific gender ( or rather gender stereotype that one gender prefers different colors than the other).

Erin
7 years ago

*product.

Ps. Thanks for the cleaning tip Fp. I ended up soaking my brush because I missed the rinsing step information before I applied the cleanser but I’ve done it before with no ill effects. But I happened to have Castile soap on hand that’s taking me quite some time to use up so I appreciate finding another use for it. Incidentally I tried using it as an alternative to commercial shampoo(ie “no poo”) but it did not work for my hair. I’m thinking hard water is to blame. Let’s hope it works better on the brush, will report back later.