How to Clean Your Hairbrush (And Why It Actually Matters)
Nobody thinks about their hairbrush. That’s the problem.
You wash your hair, you condition it, you spend real money on good product. Then you drag it through a brush that hasn’t seen a clean in months. Every day that brush picks up oil, dead skin, dust and whatever’s left of yesterday’s product — and none of it disappears. It sits in the bristles until the next brush-through, when it goes straight back into hair you just washed.
A clean brush fixes that. It glides better, it’s kinder to your scalp and it stops undoing your wash day before it’s even started. Two minutes, once a week, that’s it.
Why It Actually Matters
A dirty brush isn’t just holding stray hairs — it’s holding product buildup, oil, dead skin cells and dust. Leave it long enough and every brush-through puts that straight back on your scalp. Hair looks flatter and greasier faster. Scalp gets irritated. None of it’s the brush’s fault — it’s ours, for never cleaning the thing.
We talk a lot about what goes onto your hair — low-tox, sulphate-free, the right product for your scalp. A dirty brush undoes a chunk of that effort before it’s had the chance to work. Clean tools are part of a low-tox routine, not separate from it.
How Often
Weekly if you’re using styling products regularly
Fortnightly for lighter, everyday use
Daily — just a quick hair removal, no full wash needed
The Method
1. Clear out the loose hair Before anything else, rake through the bristles to pull out loose hair and break up any surface buildup. Ten seconds, done daily if you can — it keeps the brush working properly between full cleans.
2. Run a warm soapy soak Fill a bowl or the sink with warm water and a small amount of sulphate-free shampoo. If your brush has a wooden handle, keep the water shallow — wood doesn’t like sitting in water.
3. Work the bristles Dip just the bristles in and massage them gently with your fingers to lift out residue. No need to rush this bit.
4. Rinse properly Rinse under warm running water until it runs completely clear — no shampoo left sitting in the base of the bristles.
5. Dry it right Lay the brush bristle-side down on a towel and let it air dry. Skip the heat, skip standing it upright — slow drying protects both the bristles and the handle.
The Bottom Line
A clean brush is a small habit that quietly supports everything else — happier scalp, better product performance, hair that holds up longer between washes. It’s not a ritual, it’s basic maintenance. Two minutes, once a week. Worth it.
A Few More Things Worth Knowing
Match the wash to the brush. A boar bristle brush hates a long soak — it strips the natural oils that make it worth owning in the first place. Wipe it down and clean just the tips instead. Plastic or nylon bristles can handle a proper soak, no issue.
Skip anything with sulphates or synthetic fragrance. Whatever you’re rinsing your brush with ends up back on your scalp too. A gentle, sulphate-free shampoo does the job without adding to the residue you’re trying to remove in the first place.
One brush, one job. Using the same brush wet and dry, on product-heavy hair and clean hair, speeds up buildup. If you can, keep a separate brush for detangling wet hair straight out of the shower.
Know when to let it go. Bent bristles, a cracked base, a cushion that’s lost its bounce — no amount of cleaning fixes a brush that’s past it. Replace it rather than keep nursing it along.
Clean it before you colour. Got a balayage or colour appointment coming up? Clean your brush the day before. If it’s full of old product and oil, that buildup transfers straight into your hair the moment you brush it out post-appointment — which can affect how your colour settles.
Combs need this too. Same rules apply to combs — rake, soak, rinse, dry flat. Wide-tooth combs used on wet hair build up conditioner residue fast, so don’t let them off the hook just because they’re not technically a “brush.”
