100 Things 2 Do: Spring Cleaning

From all I've read, you're really supposed to clean your brushes monthly - but let's be honest - who has the time?

I think I cleaned them last in the summer, and I'm guessing at that because my one brush still has pink hair chalk in it from this post.

Gross.

I'd like to blame Madison and Chloe for the hair in these because I'm pretty sure all of mine just falls out and sits on the bathroom floor.

This looks like the mess of long-hair'd people.

In researching the best way to clean brushes - since up to now I've just pulled the hair out and been done - I read that the reason it is suggested that you clean your brushes monthly is because they store up all of the product, dead skin cells, dandruff, grease and oil as well as hair.

Essentially, if your brush is dirty, you're just putting all that gunk back into your hair every time you brush.
Common sense I guess, but I'd never thought of it that way.

Step 1 - use a pointed item to lift the hair from the pad of the brush.

Step 2 - if you have a round brush, you'll want to snip the hair to get it loose.

Snip on both sides of the cylinder for easy removal.

Step 3 - once you've removed all the hair, you'll still have grease and product on the brush bristles so you'll need to wash that out.

I used a mixture of baking soda, a dash of children's hair shampoo and warm water and then scrubbed with a toothbrush to get in between as much as possible.

(My hairdresser told me that children's shampoo, like Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo, is just as effective at stripping hair of residue as the more expensive anti-residue shampoos)

You can see here that even though I've removed all of the hair, there is still chalk visible - proof of the "product left behind" theory.

Give this bad-boy and extra scrub…

Step 4 - I poured my scrub mixture into the sink and added more hot water then I let them soak for about 20 minutes.

Some tutorials say to soak overnight, or soak some types of bristles and not others.

I'm pretty sure my brushes are from the local drugstore, so I wasn't too worried about damaging "boar's head bristles" or anything of that sort.

Step 5 - set out on a towel to dry!

I did look into disinfecting your brushes, but from what I've read it's not necessary for your own. Salons use Barbicide (the blue stuff) to clean theirs, but that's to kill nits etc that might get transferred from one client to the next.

If your family is lice/nit free - then it's an unnecessary step, and actually quite toxic.

It is a germicide, pseudomonacide, fungicide, and viricide. In addition, it kills the HIV-1 virus (AIDS virus), Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. Contact can cause irritation to the skin and eyes, and consumption of as little as 50 mL can cause a person's system to go into shock and may lead to death if not treated quickly.