Cleaning Hairbrushes

Girls, let's face it. That trusty hairbrush you use every day is surely full of hair, dandruff, oil, and maybe even hair product residues. I know you'd rather not continue to drag that mess through your beautiful tresses. It's time to give that brush a good cleaning and make sure it stays that way.

The following method is for routine cleaning and should be used once a week to once a month, depending on how often you brush your hair. The best time to clean your brush is before you shampoo so that you can use your clean brush on clean hair. Gather the following materials:

• More than one hairbrush and/or comb
• Shampoo
• Warm running water
• Cotton swabs
• Wastebasket
• ½ cup baking soda (optional)
• Towel

Now do the following to get the brushes clean:

1. Using your fingers, remove stray hair from the brush over a wastebasket. Don't be alarmed at the amount of hair in the brush; it's normal for a certain amount of hair to come out.
2. Run the brush(es) and/or comb(s) under warm water.
3. Apply a small dab of shampoo to your brush's bristles. Using another comb or brush, scrub the bristles together gently in one direction. Continue to scrub in this manner under running water until the suds have rinsed away completely.
4. If you can still see junk at the base of the bristles, use a cotton swab to remove it and rinse again.
5. Dry your styling implements with a towel.

If your brush is really dirty, though, and has become coated with cleaning products, you can try this method after completing steps 1-4 above. Fill your bathroom sink with a mixture of warm water and ½ cup baking soda. Soak your brushes and/or combs in this solution for about 15 minutes. Then rinse them off and let them dry overnight on a towel, with the bristles facing down.

Be cautioned that you shouldn't soak certain types of brushes in water, such as natural wood-bodied brushes, those with boar-bristles, or rubber-cushioned brushes. They may become damaged and not last as long as they should.

Using a clean brush will make your hair look and feel much healthier and less greasy. Your scalp, too, will feel better as you get rid of oily buildup at the roots.