How to Clean Hair Brushes and Combs

If you have hair, you need this simple cleaning tutorial. In fact, go grab your brushes and combs right now — I’ll show you how quick and easy it is to clean them!

If you’re like most people (myself included) cleaning your hair brushes and combs is not something that makes the top of your to-do list each week.

However, if you haven’t cleaned your combs and brushes in a while (or ever) you might be shocked by how dirty they are.

Thankfully, the process of cleaning them is embarrassingly simple with almost zero hands-on time required.

Here’s how I clean mine:

STEP 1 = REMOVE HAIR

I don’t have this problem with my comb because my hair is super short. However, up until a few years ago, I had VERY long curly hair that clogged up my brush within a day or so.

I pulled out any hair in my brush on a very regular basis (probably daily), but if you don’t do this, it’s definitely the first step in cleaning up your hair brushes and combs.

STEP 2 = SOAK:

This doesn’t work as well for brushes with a “soft” or “squishy” bristle part, but for hard plastic brushes and combs, you definitely want to soak it for a while.

You’ll want to fill a large mug or a shallow dish with some warm water and then add a little white vinegar or a squirt of shampoo.

Let the comb and/or brush bristles soak for a few minutes to soften the gunk.

If you have a squishy brush, just set the bristles of the brush in a shallow dish with a vinegar/water or shampoo/water solution and proceed with instructions below.

STEP 3 = SCRUB:

After you let it soak for a bit, you can either scrub two combs/brushes together to loosen the gunk, or you can scrub the bristles with an old toothbrush (this is what I do).

Look at all the gunk coming off the combs and brushes!

STEP 4 = RINSE and WIPE CLEAN:

After scrubbing for a minute or so, rinse the comb/brush under running water and use a soft cloth or paper towel to wipe the bristles clean and dry.

If your combs and brushes are anything like mine, you’ll most likely be amazed at how much gunk you remove (it’s gross, but also weirdly satisfying for me!)

The whole process takes me less than 10 minutes — and every time I do it, I wonder why I wait so long in between cleanings.

I looked it up online and it suggested cleaning your combs and brushes every week! I’m definitely not doing that — but even every couple months is better than nothing 🙂

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Also, if you regularly use a curling iron or flat iron, you can clean the gunk off them by soaking a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and wiping it across the surface of a COOLED curling iron or flat iron. Works like a charm — and you’ll most likely notice that the irons perform better when nice and clean!

Do you have any other tips for cleaning your hair “utensils”?