It might come as a shock to you, but there’s a good chance you’re cleaning your hairbrush wrong. In fact, we’re willing to bet that a whole lot of you rarely ever actually clean your hairbrush. For people who work with hair for a living, this is absolute insanity, but for many regular women (and men!), cleaning a hairbrush is something you do maybe once in a while, and only if it gets really gross.
The problem with waiting until your hairbrush is unrecognizable to clean it is threefold. First, when there’s a giant hairball around your brush, it’s not going to brush as effectively. The hair on the brush will get in the way, and will decrease the reach of the bristles. Secondly, there’s dirt, dust, dead skin cells and flakes, and product from previous brushing. All of that detritus builds up in that matted hairball and then transfers right to your clean, beautiful hair as soon as you brush. Ick! Third, and most important, is the mess of bacteria that grows in and around hair. Ever wonder why hair salons keep their tools in an alcohol-based cleaning solution? It’s because your hair is full of potentially dangerous bugs that can stick to brushes, combs, and scissors. Keeping it clean is vital to good health.
So how do you do a proper job of cleaning a hairbrush? It’s really pretty easy. First, gently tug at the hair stuck to the brush. If you’re lucky, it will slide right off and you can throw it out. If it has difficulty, you might need to lift it off of the base of the brush and run some scissors down the length of the brush between the bristles. Once the hair is cut, it should be much easier to pull off and dispose.
For round brushes, you might need to cut it on a few sides to make it easier to pull out. Once the old hair is off, pour some hot water into a bowl and mix in some shampoo. Swirl the brush in the soapy mixture – you can even massage it a little with your fingers to get the shampoo in deep. Rinse off the soap and your hairbrush will be good as new!
Remember, taking care of your hair is more than just good technique and good product – you need good tools in good condition to really make your locks look wonderful!
