How to Clean a Hairbrush (for Healthier Hair)

How to Clean a Hairbrush (for Healthier Hair)

I have been on the no-shampoo train since February 1, 2014. Over eight months now.

I’m Quitting Shampoo for a Month (and you can too!)

DIY All-Natural Dry Shampoo (2 Ingredients!)

I Haven’t Shampooed my Hair in 4 Months (no-poo update)

How to Get Started in the No-Poo Hair Care Method

No-Poo FAQ’s, Resources, and Tips

And the verdict? Still lovin’ it, baby! It has only gotten better and better.

To be completely candid, I have just one complaint, which is how greasy my hair gets by the last day before a wash. Day 1 and 2? Best hair days EVER. Day 3? Perfect day for a ponytail and a light dusting of DIY Dry Shampoo, and I’m good to go. But by day 4, I’m so over it. Every day 4 makes me want to quit no-poo like a big fat quitter-pants.

I go four days between washing with my baking soda and vinegar routine, and the day before is always so bleh. Like, embarassingly so. I have fine hair and insufferably greasy roots when someone even looks at them sideways. No-pooing has improved this issue to the point where I can go four days between washes (used to be daily), but I’m still not thrilled about the Day 4 greasies.

Well, I am here to tell you that lo and behold! I think I might have finally actually solved my little problem.

There are actually two things that have made a huge difference for me in this issue.

One is that I bought a boar bristle brush and started using it every night before bed. A boar bristle brush is made of (duh) boar bristles, which are densely packed together and quite proficient at pulling the sebum (natural oils produced by your scalp) down the hair shaft to distribute them more evenly, rather than clustered around your roots.

The boar bristle brush results in amazingly shiny hair that is noticeably less greasy. When I started using it, I noticed my Day 4 greasy problem began to lessen.

The other brainwave that has proven to be a total gamechanger is the simple act of cleaning my hairbrushes! I use the boar bristle brush at night (it produces a lot of static, and should be done in layers), and the “regular” kind elsewhere.

Short story: my hairbrushes were filthy and disgusting. I never washed them. I didn’t know that was a thing people did. I didn’t know that you could do more than just pull out the long bits and strands of matted up hair when they finally begin plotting to take over.

I didn’t know there was months (years?) of dead skin cells and hair, dirt and fluff, hair care product, and scalp oils all cohabiting my hairbrush cozily, being re-deposited back into my hair every time I brushed it.

All together now: shudder.

Here’s the worst it got. Pretty bad, eh? That was under the layer of matted hairs that had been (ironically?!) preventing much of this crap from getting back to my head. Nonetheless. So gross.

Once I cleaned my hairbrushes, my hair started staying clean for longer. I wasn’t depositing dirt back in to my clean hair every time I brushed it. Imagine that.

I honestly cannot believe how many years I spent brushing my hair with dirty hairbrushes. Ugh! HUGE duh moment for me, right there. In case any of you are having your own little lightbulb moment along with me, here’s how I did it:

Materials:

Bowl of warm soapy water (I used Dr. Bronner’s, but you could use shampoo if you’d like)

A splash of vinegar helps to disinfect (optional)

Tweezers or the end of a comb

A non-fuzzy towel (dishtowel works well) to lay the hairbrushes on to dry

An old toothbrush (optional)

Directions:

1. Pick out as much hair as you can, then loosen more by running tweezers or comb point up and down the rows between the bristles of your brush.

2. Gently swish around in soapy water to loosen dirt. Use your desired pokey thing to scrape out as much as you can.

3. Continue to swish the bristles in the warm soapy water.

4. Use an old toothbrush to brush in between rows of bristles… kinda like brushing your teeth. I assume you’re familiar.

5. It’s not rocket science, kids. Repeat as needed.

6. Lay facedown (very important) on a non-fuzzy towel to dry (a few hours for regular brushes, and overnight for boar bristle brushes).

How often do you clean your hairbrush?

Check out my other posts on the no-poo hair care method:

I’m Quitting Shampoo for a Month (and you can too!)

DIY All-Natural Dry Shampoo (2 Ingredients!)

I Haven’t Shampooed my Hair in 4 Months (no-poo update)

How to Get Started in the No-Poo Hair Care Method

No-Poo FAQ’s, Resources, and Tips

Disclosure: Affiliate links included in this post.

Original article and pictures take redandhoney.com site