Jen Harwood – Body+Soul
Founder of Happy Hairbrush
Heads up, this is how often you should clean your hairbrush.
It’s probably more than you think.
While you no doubt change your toothbrush and razor frequently, your hairbrush is oft forgotten – and it could be having a seriously detrimental effect on your hair.
The humble hairbrush – we all have one, but are you looking after yours like you should?
Most of us brush our hair daily but how many of us ever stop for a moment to take a good look at our brush, let alone clean it?
Often it sits discarded in a bathroom drawer or benchtop, quickly used and then forgotten for the rest of the day.
To have healthy hair, we all know that you need to clean it with shampoo at least two to three times a week, but the one step you might be overlooking in your beauty routine is that you also need to clean your hairbrush.
Why? Because not cleaning your brush could actually be doing your hair damage.
This is thanks largely to a build-up of dead skin cells, bacteria and products such as dry shampoo, hairspray and volumising powders that lurk in your hairbrush, that don’t do your scalp any favours. Apart from making it itchy and irritated, it can also lead to hair breakage.
To get the best out of your brush and keep your hair as healthy as possible, you need to clean it at least once a month, and the best news is it’s super easy to do.
How to clean your hairbrush
Step 1: fill a bowl that will fit your brush with soapy water, this can be warm or cold and you can use a little bit of shampoo or gentle detergent in it. No need to submerge the handle.
Step 2: remove all the loose hairs in your brush by hand, or with a brush cleaner. Then throw all of that gunk straight in the bin.
Step 3: submerge the brush head in the water and rub the bristles with your fingers, so you’re getting right in between them and dislodging all of that hair product, lint, bacteria and dry skin cell buildup.
Step 4: Allow your brush to dry naturally and then use it again as you need it.
Doing this at least once a month will mean that your hair is the healthiest it can be and free from any hair product build-up that you’re otherwise just pushing back onto your scalp daily.
Our brushes get a pretty good workout, so make sure you’re also replacing yours enough. Wear and tear on every head of hair is different, but as a general rule, make sure you’re replacing your brush every 18 months to two years for optimal hair health.
Jen Harwood is the founder of Happy Hairbrush, a range of tools designed to make brushing hair a breeze.