Cleaning expert shows how to properly deep clean your hairbrushes

A cleaning expert has demonstrated how to properly wash your hairbrushes to remove dead skin cells, oil, and residue, which can all cause bacteria. 

Nicole Jaques, 35, a digital lifestyle creator from Oregon, has more than 400,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, where she posts her kitchen hacks, cleaning, tips, and recipes. 

In a recent video, she shared a step-by-step guide for deep cleaning your hairbrushes, saying this should be done every two weeks. 

‘I know, I was shocked too,’ she said of the frequency. 

The lifestyle guru’s first step was to remove all of the hair from the bristles, using either scissors or another sharp object

 At this point, you should also disconnect the brushes if you are able to

Jaques explained that it’s important to regularly clean your brushes because the gray lint you see between the bristles is actually a build-up of dead skin cells and sebum (oil from your skin) combined with matted hair and hair product residue. 

She noted that this creates a breeding ground for bacteria that can hide in your brush, becoming more and more contaminated the longer you go without cleaning it.  

Thankfully, the cleaning process is fairly easy.  

In the video, the lifestyle guru showed how to clean four different brushes: a round thermal brush, a hair-detangling brush, a wood round brush with boar bristles, and a small nylon brush.   

Jaques’s first step was to remove all of the hair from the bristles, using either scissors or another sharp object. 

For the round brushes, she snipped the clumps of hair from both sides with her scissors before pulling them off the bristles. 

Jaques explained that the gray lint you see between the bristles is actually a build-up of dead skin cells and sebum (oil from your skin) combined with matted hair and hair product residue

She then filled a large bowl with warm water, explaining that you can add either baking soda or mild shampoo

Jaques soaked all of the brushes – except the wood one – in the water for 20 minutes. ‘Use a clean toothbrush to scrub between the rows of bristles,’ she advised in the caption

At this point, you should also disconnect the brushes if you are able to. 

She then filled a large bowl with warm water, explaining that you can add either baking soda or mild shampoo. 

She soaked all of the brushes — except the wood one — in the water for 20 minutes. 

‘Use a clean toothbrush to scrub between the rows of bristles and around the handle if you want,’ she advised in the caption. ‘The baking soda will act as a gentle abrasive to remove the gunk and shampoo will help cleanse the brush.’

Jaques panned the camera to the bucket after the brushes were done soaking, saying the ‘water was so gross.’ 

She added that after you’ve cleaned your brushes, you can further disinfect them and ‘ensure they are thoroughly sterilized’ by spraying them with 70% isopropyl alcohol.

Jaques panned the camera to the bucket after the brushes were done soaking, saying the ‘water was so gross’

Jaques noted that if the brush is wood, you should quickly rinse it with shampoo and water before lightly spraying it with 70% isopropyl alcohol to disinfect it

The educational video has been viewed more than 170,000 times since it was posted on March 7, and a number of commenters thanked her for the cleaning tip 

After she was done, she rinsed the brushes under warm water and let them dry. 

Jaques noted that if the brush is wood, you should quickly rinse it with shampoo and water before lightly spraying it with 70% isopropyl alcohol to disinfect it. 

The educational video has been viewed more than 170,000 times since it was posted on March 7, and a number of commenters were admittedly shocked by what they had learned. 

‘Awk moment when you thought *it* was lint,’ one person wrote. 

‘Thank you for the tip! I’m doing this now. The solution of water and baking soda is already dirty after only a couple of minutes of soaking. Yikes!’ someone else added. 

Another shared, ‘Can’t believe how I never cleaned my brushes in earnest?! Thank you!’

‘Omg! I’m saving this! The scissor hacks is [exploding head emoji],’ one fan gushed.