I have been using my pure badger hair brush for a little over a month now and no issues. I was just wondering how often a brush should be cleaned and what have people found to be the best way to do that? A friend of mine told me that shampoo works to help get the old soap out but I am not sure if just any shampoo is ok.
Brush care
- Thread starter TheRusty
- Start date
You should clean it when you notice the performance drop off. There is a link in my signature on how to clean a brush.
A brush should be cleaned after every use, i.e. rinsed out very well with warm water, let it run into the knot form the top and gently squeeze it out. The main thing is to get rid of any kind of soap or cream residue. If you do this every time you shave, your brush does not need a special cleaning!! I have had never the need to extra clean any of my brushes because I always rinse them out very well. However, I have seen many brushes (like for transplants etc) that were not taken care of very well - they have often quite a bit of soap residue in them that will break down the hair eventually.
+1 I find this a lot easier using a small container for the water - I use my scuttle - and continually refresh the water in the bowl.
Rudy, I have great respect for your experience and expertise. However I believe you live in an area with soft water? In harder water soap readily forms soap scum. Once that sticks to the hair or bristles, no amount of rinsing will remove it. Periodic cleaning with detergents like dishsoap or shampoo can remove soap scum. So can dilute vinegar, although I think that brings more risk of potential damage to the hair or epoxy.
All this is just to say that YMMV. For brushes used in soft water areas, thorough rinsing may be enough. But with harder water even the most thoroughly rinsed brushes may need special cleaning from time to time.
I do what Rudy suggested but I don't know if my water is considered hard or soft. Whatever it is, mine are just fine using a very thorough rinsing. To double check, I swirl the brushes around in a bowl of water to see if the water is clear; if not, it's back to the rinse step.
The link to shaving brush cleaning in Mike's signature is a good one. It's what I do. Be sure to use dilute household vinegar; if it's just getting rid of mineral deposits, you probably don't need anything stronger than a 1:5 ratio of vinegar to water. The first priority should be to do no harm.
I use my shaving brushes in rotation, so it takes a long time for any of them to accumulate a lot of soap scum. I would say I "clean" each brush (beyond just rinsing it in water) on average about every 12-18 months. But I'm sure I have brushes I have owned for 3-4 years that have never gotten "cleaned" this way, and they haven't suffered any ill effects.
I use my shaving brushes in rotation, so it takes a long time for any of them to accumulate a lot of soap scum. I would say I "clean" each brush (beyond just rinsing it in water) on average about every 12-18 months. But I'm sure I have brushes I have owned for 3-4 years that have never gotten "cleaned" this way, and they haven't suffered any ill effects.
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