How To Clean Your Boar Brush Between Dry Brush Sessions

Close up before and after results of a dirty boar bristle brush versus clean brush

Earlier: This is 1 week of brushing "water-only" hair. Note the sebum buildup.

After: I gave my castor a quick bath, and it's like new! Follow the steps below.

Using the boar bristle brush for no poo pilus

One of the most essential ways to improve the quality of hair is to invest in a boar bristle hair brush, preferably one with 100% boar bristles. A boar bristle / nylon bristle blend is okay, just note that the college concentration of boar bristles, the amend. Affordable brushes can exist found for $ten – $30 at Shoppers, Sally's or other beauty supply stores. (Encounter these links to brush/comb recommendations from 1 of our commenters.)

What does the boar bristle brush do?

A boar bristle castor (BBB) distributes the hair'due south natural oils away from the roots and downwardly to the ends of pilus. It allows yous to glaze the length of your hair with hydrating & protective oils created naturally past the scalp. We can't reap the benefits of these naturally-produced oils when nosotros strip them from our hair by washing daily with sulfates and detergents constitute in nearly commercial shampoos. A major key to meliorate quality pilus is to launder information technology less often (or eliminate harsh sulfates/detergents all together), and use a BBB betwixt washes/rinses to pull the oils away from the roots & distribute them downwards to the ends. This procedure keeps roots from looking oily, and it adds hydration to the ends of pilus which can otherwise be susceptible to dryness.

If you endure from an oily scalp, dry ends, and/or frizzy pilus, a BBB can exist a complete game changer. One of the first times I used one, I had just started no-shampoo / "no poo" and went 7 days without washing or rinsing my hair. I let it become a greasy mess, but then I used a BBB to pull the oils downwardly to my ends, put it upward in a loftier bun, and went to bed. When I woke upwardly, I promptly water-washed my hair, and information technology stale incredibly soft, hydrated, bouncy, and frizz was no where to be found. It's similar using a pilus mask, except it's gratis and works meliorate than whatever pilus mask I've e'er used.

Boar bristle brushes need cleaning on no poo

Anyhow, if you lot use a BBB, especially if yous are "no poo" (no shampoo) or use the water-only hair washing method like me, you know your BBB can get pretty gross, pretty fast. After a calendar week of using mine, there is a lot of sebum buildup (which is the oil naturally produced by our scalps), which looks grey and dusty when it builds up on a pilus brush (pictured beneath), and also hair that needs to be removed. If you want your hair to look less oily-looking (especially during the oily transitional phase that occurs when you start no poo), cleaning your boar-bristle brush between uses is essential. Otherwise, your brush isn't soaking up oils from your head, information technology'due south merely moving around last week'southward oils (or whenever the the last time y'all washed it was) effectually on your head with this week's oils.

Close up of boar bristle brush front and sides covered in dirty sebum

I requite my brush a quick bath every week, and information technology cleans it like new every fourth dimension. There are a few important steps I recommend that arrive easy and help get the longest lifespan out of the castor.

What yous'll need to clean a boar bristle brush

Soap, comb, and container are needed to wash a boar bristle brush

boar-bristle brush
comb with regular or tight teeth
Liquid shampoo/soap — A sulfate-gratis shampoo or natural hair cleanser is preferred as information technology is gentler on the bristles. If you call back your castor got in contact with products containing silicones, you tin analyze it with a sulfate shampoo or body wash, shown here.
very warm water, and cold water
whatsoever kind of container that will properly fit your brush***

*** (Pictured Right): If your BBB has a wooden handle and/or a cushion-y padding where the bristles come out, it's of import that these don't get submerged in water. This volition avert weakening the brush handle over fourth dimension and allow it to dry quicker. Utilize a container that fits the brush then water touches only the bristles and only barely touches the cushion-y office of the brush.

How to make clean a boar bristle brush

STEP i: Outset things showtime, comb the hair and excess sebum off the brush.

Dragging comb across boar bristle brush to remove excess sebum

Starting at the edges, insert the rummage at the roots of the bristles and pull the comb away from the brush to loosen up the pilus. Do this around all of the edges of the brush. And so elevate the comb through the brush (pictured correct) to pull the hair off the castor. Keep doing this until all or nearly of the pilus and excess sebum comes off the castor.

These pictures bear witness what my brush looks like after I've pulled the rummage through it a few times. I spared you some grossness. :) It'south already looking better, but there'southward still a lot of dusty sebum buildup in there. (You tin click this prototype to enlarge it / zoom in.)

Pace 2:Prepare the boar bristle brush bath.

Filling up a container with soap and water to clean boar bristle brush

Eject a dollop of the liquid soap or shampoo in the container and fill up it up with very warm water. We're basically giving our brush a bath. Make sure the water is very warm as it will practise a improve job of cleaning oils off the brush than cold water.

STEP 3: Soak the boar bristle brush.

Soaking boar bristles in soapy water and swishing it to remove sebum

Swish the brush around in the warm, soapy h2o. Be conscientious to proceed the h2o just on the bristles and avoid submerging the brush, especially if information technology has a squishy bristle padding or a wooden handle. It's of import to keep the castor bristle-side downwards while it's wet for the duration of this process, so the h2o doesn't seep into the cushion-y office.

STEP 4: Allow the boar bristle brush soak for almost 10 minutes!

Brush sitting in warm soapy water for ten minutes

After some skilful swishing, wipe off any h2o that got on the handle (if it's wooden), and prepare it nicely on the container and so but the bristles stay submerged in the water.

Now exit it alone for near 10 mins. Seriously! Don't touch on it. :)

STEP 5: Rinse the boar bristle brush with clean water.

Rinsing the boar bristle brush in clean water to remove soap

Later 10 mins, take the brush out of the bathroom, keeping it bristle side down. Rinse out the container and fill it support with clean, common cold h2o. Classy the brush around in the cold water, withal avoiding submerging the brush or getting the wooden handle wet.

STEP 6: Allow the boar bristle brush dry!

A boar bristle brush drying bristle side down on a towel for ten minutes

Have the brush out of the cold h2o rinse, and keeping information technology bristle-side downwardly, run your finger across the beard a few times to flick away any excess water.

Set the brush bristle-side downwardly on a clean towel. Wipe whatever excess water off the wooden handle and let it dry completely. It might take a couple of hours or all day to dry, depending on how much water got inside the cushion-y part of the brush.

NOTE: Many people have said their new boar bristle brush smells like… well… a boar when information technology's wet. If this happens to you lot, don't worry, the brush should non smell like anything when it is dry out. And the way information technology smells while it'southward wet should become away after a month or two of use and washing. So for the first month or two, just let it dry completely before using it on your hair!