Brush deep clean & care-do you shampoo/condition? Or just vinegar/borax?

[Morik]

So its coming up on time for my first deep cleaning of my brushes.

I have read a lot of different stuff. Some say to shampoo & condition the brushes, then do a vinegar or borax solution.
Some say to just vinegar/borax.

Do you shampoo & condition? If so, do you use pet shampoo (dog? cat? horse?) or human shampoo?

(One of my brushes is rather expensive, a Simpsons CH3 super, and I would like to maintain it well. I also have an Omega Pro 49 boar and a Semagogue SOC boar.)

 

[Random Shaver]

Do you shampoo & condition? If so, do you use pet shampoo (dog? cat? horse?) or human shampoo?

I own four boar brushes -- two Semogues (SOC and 2000) and two Omegas (11137 and Pro 48). I use the same shampoo on my brushes that I do on my own hair (Suave Daily Clarifying). If it's good enough for the hair on my head, it's good enough for the hair on my shave brushes. I also use conditioner on the brush, then after rinsing it out, I give it a 10:1 or 20:1 Water/Vinegar soak. One final rinse, then it's flick-dried, towel dried strop-style, and put up on the shelf to dry per my usual post-shave routine.

 

[BSAGuy]

Two Semogues and a L'Occitane synthetic. No brush washing for me. Doesn't make sense to me when they spend their working lives infused with soap already.

I just use them, rinse well, and hang to dry.

 

[dpm802]

Two Semogues and a L'Occitane synthetic. No brush washing for me. Doesn't make sense to me when they spend their working lives infused with soap already.

I just use them, rinse well, and hang to dry.

+1 ... the only time I feel that washing a brush is necessary is if I buy a used one. Especially one that comes from an antique store. They may have been sitting on the shelf for years and will have collected a lot of dust.

I use Johnson&Johnson's Baby Shampoo to clean them. A small travel-size bottle should last you for years if you only use it for brushes.
Two or three lathers with the shampoo, with lots of rinsing in between, and then set it up to dry.

I don't think that using any kind of conditioner on a brush knot is a good idea. It may change the natural characteristics of the knot and leave you with a brush that is frizzy, or floppy, or too stiff. Just clean it with a mild shampoo and rinse it well, that is all it needs.

The one time that I did clean an brush in active rotation was when I had a Semogue 1305 that had become too floppy and wasn't holding very much water anymore. I cleaned it 3 times over the course of a month. Cleaning brought back a little bit of water retention but did nothing for the floppiness, so I had to retire the brush.

 

[Morik]

From what I've read, soap builds up residue on the brush that can damage the hairs over time. Vinegar or borax gets rid of the buildup.

I guess maybe shampoo helps cut through some of the skin oils that build up on the brush? Though that is a bit iffy in my mind since shave soap should also cut through the oils...

 

[Icebear]

If you keep your brushes clean you don't have to think about heavy cleaning action in the first place.
That essentially means do not work the soap all the way into the knot by too much pressure when building the lather and when lathering your face. Down in the knot it will not be in contact with your skin and the only thing it will do it damage the knot. When the lather is only in the top 2/3rds of the knot it will be easy to rinse out properly after use and you will not have the problem of soap built up at all. Whatever your local water quality is, there will over time be some mineral built up on the hair that will need occasional cleaning with vinegar or citric acid solution. When you do the cleaning just gently swirl the brush in the solution take it out squeeze gently and dip again to have fresh solution come into the knot. Rinse under running water properly afterwards. Never soak the brush over night.

 

[njpaddy]

Vinegar or borax gets rid of the buildup.

There are some brush makers (Thater) that specifically state that using Borax (and other strong detergents) will void the warranty. I get a lot of buildup with my well water and tallow soaps or occasional cream. If I notice a buildup on my Thaters, Simpsons and Rooney brushes, I will either lather it up on a glycerin soap or, better yet, the Neutrogena facial bar I use for a pre-shave face wash. Once a year (New Years Day) I clean all my brushes with some Dawn dish detergent followed by a very diluted vinegar rinse.

 

[Doodi1]

Once a year I shampoo my brushes with my own shampoo (no conditioner). Afterwards I mix a 50:50 mixture of white vinegar and distilled water and add a tea spoon of glycerin to it and let the rinsed brushes (after shampooing) sit in the mixture for about 5 minutes. I then rinse them thoroughly and give them shake, towel dry it and set them out to dry.

Word of caution, if you have any brushes that have metal rings at the base of the knot. Soaking them in vinegar solutions for a long time will cause corrosion of the ring. For this reason, i might further dilute my vinegar solutions to 30:70 ratio for those brushes.

 

[blzrfn]

For a used brush that I clean prior to use, all of the above.

For brushes in my collection that are starting to show a buildup I will just give them a 15 minute soak in a 5-10% apple cider vinegar followed by a shampoo, then right back into rotation.

 

[TexLaw]

Don't use Borax. Would you use that on your hair and expect good things to happen?

If you're getting some soap scum buildup, a dilute vinegar rinse is all you need.

 

[Cisco Kid]

I just use them, rinse well, and hang to dry.

This is what I do, too. I've never seen soap scum build-up in a brush. Could someone post a picture or a link to one? Thanks.

 

[Doodi1]

You are correct. Borax is too caustic and it will damage the hair.

 

[bberg100]

Two Semogues and a L'Occitane synthetic. No brush washing for me. Doesn't make sense to me when they spend their working lives infused with soap already.

I just use them, rinse well, and hang to dry.

+ another

 

[tromboneliness]

Two Semogues and a L'Occitane synthetic. No brush washing for me. Doesn't make sense to me when they spend their working lives infused with soap already.

I just use them, rinse well, and hang to dry.

+1 2 Semogues, 2 Omegas, WD boar, WD badger, Fine synthetic. "Rinse well" is the operative phrase here.

From what I've read, soap builds up residue on the brush that can damage the hairs over time.

Never seen it. Must be YMMV.

I guess maybe shampoo helps cut through some of the skin oils that build up on the brush? Though that is a bit iffy in my mind since shave soap should also cut through the oils...

I think you answered your own question.

Look, we have gents here who clean their brushes, gents who completely disassemble and clean their razors/blades every day, and all sorts of other behavior. That's natural, it's a hobby! It's all good.

But if you don't see soap build-up on your brushes, there's no particular necessity to use any of the techniques described here. And if you do, I'd say try more thorough rinsing first.

 

[tgb53]

I live in Los Angeles. Water is fairly hard and I do get some buildup of soap (I only have MdC) on my brush (a TGN HMW knot Rudy Vey put into a beautiful wood handle he made for me). I DO clean the brush whenever it starts seeming less soft to me (probably every 8 weeks or so). Normally I use "Brush Cleanser" by MAC, simple instructions (made for makeup brushes but I read about it here on B&B as a great cleaner). Result is great. Once I tried heavily diluted white vinegar, not bad result, but not as good as the MAC and it left a vinegar smell for several shaves. Once I tried shampoo and conditioner, least good of the three. In the end, IF you feel there is some kind of buildup, why not try a cleaning method? I do agree Borax seems rough, never tried it.

 

[Jarick]

I figure the soap does a good enough job cleaning the brush whenever I use it. I just have to be sure to do a great job rinsing out the soap after each use. Hold it under the faucet for a while, then after squeezing and shaking the brush, I hold it to my ear and squeeze the knot. If it crackles, there's still soap in there.

Every couple months or so, I will dip the brushes in a mix of vinegar and water and agitate to condition the brush. It's very temporary and serves to maybe remove a touch of buildup but mostly makes it feel soft as it closes the pores of the hair due to the pH levels.

If I really want to go nuts, I'll take a soft toothbrush and a bit of scrubbing bubbles to the handle if there's any soap residue in any nooks or crannies. I don't think I have any brushes with nooks anymore though.

 

[garyg]

There are some brush makers (Thater) that specifically state that using Borax (and other strong detergents) will void the warranty. I get a lot of buildup with my well water and tallow soaps or occasional cream. If I notice a buildup on my Thaters, Simpsons and Rooney brushes, I will either lather it up on a glycerin soap or, better yet, the Neutrogena facial bar I use for a pre-shave face wash. Once a year (New Years Day) I clean all my brushes with some Dawn dish detergent followed by a very diluted vinegar rinse.

+1 on an annual bath for all of them. I use Dawn to lather, rinse, then white vinegar full strength for a minute or two max, rinse, soak in water for the amount of time it take to get another brush through the steps, rinse again and dry as usual. I do it on Saint Paddy's Eve though ..

Frequency may vary with water hardness (I'll start to notice some white on the two black-handled ones before the year is up) and how big the rotation. If you are dealing with a single brush it might be necessary to increase the frequency

 

[Mike H]

My oldest brush is 5 years old, I have only used shampoo / conditioner once, and never used borax or vinegar.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

Da Vinci also produce a brush cleaner, mainly for makeup and fine art brushes, but it works very well on shaving brushes.

 

[mblakele]

Don't use Borax. Would you use that on your hair and expect good things to happen?

If you're getting some soap scum buildup, a dilute vinegar rinse is all you need.

I soak my feet in borax from time to time. They have not fallen off. Borax is a mild water softener, and raises pH to about 8. Vinegar is a mild acid, and reduces pH. Either way the dose makes the poison.