How to Clean a Hairbrush the Right Way | The Pixie Garden Hair Podcast Ep. 19
Delena MarklandClean it weekly, and do not put it in water unless you have access to Barbicide. In this episode Delena, a licensed cosmetologist, gives the brush-care method she actually uses in the salon: rake the shed hair out with another comb first, disinfect with a spray rather than the sink, dry bristle side down so water never settles into the padded base, and replace a brush when the bristles lose their stiffness rather than when they start to look worn. Her tools are the boar bristle Smooth and Polish Hair Brush, the Bamboo Comb, the Magic Texture Comb, and the Detail and Define Styling Brush Set.
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Episode Summary
Most brush-cleaning advice online contradicts itself, particularly on whether a brush can go in water. Licensed cosmetologist Delena Markland gives a firm answer and the reasoning behind it: the bristles are not the fragile part of a brush, the padded base is, and once water gets into that cushion it does not come back out. She covers the weekly rhythm, the comb-first hair removal step, the spray-instead-of-sink routine, the bristle-side-down drying rule, and the stiffness test that tells you a brush is finished.
The written companion to this episode: How to Clean a Hairbrush: Professional Guide. Related episode: How to Detangle Matted Hair Without Cutting It (Ep. 18).
Featured in this episode
Smooth and Polish Hair Brush — boar bristle contains static instead of creating it, smooths the cuticle, and holds its stiffness far longer than plastic, which is what makes it worth maintaining · $13.95
Bamboo Comb — no cushion to protect, so it wipes down in seconds, and it doubles as the comb you use to rake shed hair out of a brush · $10.00
Magic Texture Comb — another no-cushion tool that cleans fast, and the one Delena reaches for to rebuild volume at flat roots · $7.50
Detail and Define Styling Brush Set — a precision set, so product collects right at the base of the teeth on the pintail and teasing comb and they earn a weekly spray · $9.99
Full Episode Transcript
Jess: Welcome back to The Pixie Garden Hair Podcast. I'm Jess, here with licensed cosmetologist Delena Markland. Delena, this one sounds boring until you actually try to find the answer, because everybody online contradicts everybody else. How often are you supposed to clean your hairbrush?
Delena Markland: Weekly. And before we get into how, I want to say why it is worth doing at all, because most people never clean a brush and they are not entirely wrong to skip it. A cheap plastic brush is disposable. Nobody maintains a disposable thing. The Smooth and Polish brush we carry is boar bristle, and boar bristle is a tool you maintain, the way you would maintain a good knife. That is the whole difference.
Jess: Why does boar bristle change the math?
Delena Markland: Because it does a job a plastic brush cannot. Plastic bristles generate static as they move through hair, and static is damage. Boar bristle contains the static instead of creating it, it smooths the cuticle, and it carries the oil your scalp produces down the strand. Your scalp makes that oil to protect the hair. A good boar bristle brush works with it instead of stripping it off. And boar bristle lasts much longer, so you are not replacing it constantly. That is why it earns a few minutes a week.
Jess: Okay, weekly. Walk me through it. What comes first, and do you use your fingers, or scissors like you see people do online?
Delena Markland: Another comb. That is the whole trick, and it is faster than either one. Take a comb, slide the teeth in at the base of the bristles, and rake the shed hair up and out. It lifts in one piece if you get underneath it properly. Fingers leave half of it behind, and I would not put scissors anywhere near the cushion.
Jess: And then it goes in the sink?
Delena Markland: This is the part I want to be very clear about, because the internet contradicts itself on it constantly and I do have a firm answer. Do not put your brush in water unless you have access to Barbicide. That is the disinfectant we use in salons. If you have it, you can wash the brush properly. If you do not have it, do not submerge it.
Jess: So what do you do instead?
Delena Markland: You spray it. A Barbicide aerosol spray, or a hairbrush spray made for the job. That is my everyday routine and it is what I would tell almost anyone at home. You are disinfecting the surface without flooding the brush, and it takes about a minute.
Jess: What is the actual risk with water? What goes wrong?
Delena Markland: The padded part. On a good brush the bristles are set into a cushion, and once water gets down into that cushion it does not come back out. It sits in there. That is what quietly ruins a brush that still looks perfectly fine on the outside. The bristles are not the fragile part of the brush. The pad is.
Jess: And if it does get wet, then what?
Delena Markland: Dry it bristle side down. Every single time. Lay it face down on a towel so gravity pulls the water back out of the pad instead of down into it. If you set a wet brush bristle side up, you have just funneled everything you rinsed straight into the cushion. That one habit is the difference between a brush that lasts you years and one that goes bad in a month.
Jess: How do you know when a brush is actually finished and you need a new one?
Delena Markland: Not by how it looks. People throw out brushes because they look tired, and they hang on to brushes that stopped working months ago. The tell is stiffness. When the bristles get too soft to hold their shape, the brush is done. It is not gripping the hair anymore, it is just passing through it. Press your palm into the bristles. If they fold over and do not spring back, that is your answer.
Jess: Does that happen faster with the cheap ones?
Delena Markland: Much faster. Plastic bristles bend permanently and they never come back. Boar bristle holds its stiffness far longer, and that is the real cost argument. You are not buying a nicer brush. You are buying fewer brushes.
Jess: What about combs? Same rules?
Delena Markland: Same weekly rhythm, and combs are easier because there is no cushion to protect. The Bamboo Comb and the Magic Texture Comb both wipe down fast. And if you use the Detail and Define set, the pintail and the teasing comb collect product right at the base of the teeth, so those are worth a spray too. That set is a precision tool, not a detangling tool, and I keep it clean for the same reason I keep my shears sharp.
Jess: Where do people find these?
Delena Markland: thepixiegarden.com. The Smooth and Polish boar bristle brush, the Bamboo Comb, the Magic Texture Comb, and the Detail and Define set are all there, and every one of them is something I use on the salon floor.
Jess: Everything's linked on this episode's page, along with our full written guide. See you Thursday.
Buy fewer brushes, not nicer ones
Delena's tools from this episode: the Smooth and Polish Hair Brush, the Bamboo Comb, the Magic Texture Comb, and the Detail and Define Styling Brush Set.
Hosted by Delena Markland, Licensed Cosmetologist and Owner of The Pixie Garden. New episodes weekly. Browse all episodes.
