Combs, like other personal hygiene products, get dirty over time. If you notice dirt on your comb, then it’s time to clean it, because such combing will dirty your hair even more. Light stains on the brushes and combs can be cleaned with a mild detergent and a toothbrush. If you haven’t cleaned your comb for a long time, it would be a great idea to disinfect the brush or comb in vinegar or alcohol. When you're done cleansing, you'll have a neat, clean brush that won't leave your hair dirty.
Why should this be done?
All things created by people need care. The comb is no exception. Even if it is not used for a long time, it still needs cleaning. This can be explained simply - dust always accumulates in the room, small particles fly in the air, from skin flakes to pet hair. All this settles safely on the teeth and between them.
Cleaning your comb is a necessary step in hygiene.
On the other hand, styling your hair, using hairspray or dry shampoo also affects the cleanliness of your comb. If it is not washed for a long time, such an item will accumulate lost hair, sebum and cosmetics.
The instrument should be cleaned 1-2 times a week.
After taking a shower and combing your hair with this “helper,” you can calmly turn around and start washing your hair all over again. Therefore, when caring for your hair, nothing is more important than cleaning your massage comb from dirt.
Cleaning the brush
Such accessories have an original round shape and are equipped with bristles of various types and sizes. These criteria have a strong influence on the nature of cleaning. The brush must be cleaned as often as possible, while observing all the rules for caring for the material from which it is made.
Before washing, remove all hair from the surface. This is extremely difficult to do, as the hairs become very tangled between the bristles. To remove them, use any sharp objects, such as toothpicks, needles or scissors. For better hair removal, preheat the product with a hairdryer.
To wash, use a solution of water and shampoo, adding a little hydrogen peroxide or alcohol. Soak the brush in the mixture for at least 60 minutes and then rub the surface with your tooth cheek. Next, rinse with water and dry thoroughly with a hairdryer.
Types of pollution
The most common contaminants of this personal hygiene item are:
- Dust and microparticles.
- Sebum (sebum).
- Dead scales from the surface of the skin and hair.
- Actually, the hair itself: fallen out or broken.
- Remains of cosmetics used during styling: mousses, varnishes, dry shampoos, etc.
To ensure less dirt accumulates on your comb, try to choose a treatment that suits your hair type.
Note! Dirt and dust accumulate not only on the teeth or between them - any depression, any protrusion will collect any debris no worse than a vacuum cleaner, over time acquiring the consistency of resin or cement. This must be remembered when cleaning!
Baking soda
Baking soda is an excellent cleanser! To clean you will need: bowl, baking soda, shampoo, old toothbrush, towel, water.
Actions:
Fill a bowl with warm water. Add one teaspoon of shampoo and baking soda. Use clean toothpaste to stir the solution. Dip your toothbrush into the mixture and begin scrubbing your hair brush to clean out the bristles. Dip your comb into the cleaning solution. After cleaning, rinse the comb under warm running water.
*After the final rinse, place the hair brush on a towel and air dry.
Cleaning Frequency
Since you don’t always have time to clean your comb according to all the rules, it is recommended to provide regular care at least once a day. This means that it is highly advisable to remove hair and visible dirt after each combing. They even produce special brushes for this (albeit mainly for skeletal models).
To avoid introducing dirt into your hair and scalp, clean your brushes regularly.
Ideally, hair care products like these should be given a deep wash at least once every seven to eight days. However, with frequent use of cosmetics, this period should be halved.
A traditional comb is quite easy to clean.
In principle, you can use lighter products - they will leave less traces. It also makes sense to choose the best hair care regimen. This will allow longer pauses between preventive measures.
General information
It’s probably not worth going into too much detail about the reasons why you need to wash your hair comb? We all learned from childhood that this is an item for personal use, along with a toothbrush, and it is also worth caring for this instrument regularly.
Combs are used by those who need them, not once or twice a day, but much more often, and of course they should always be kept in perfectly clean condition. This item, from such frequent use, accumulates dust and particles of the epidermis, which causes the appearance and active activity of pathogenic microorganisms. Well, when combing with a dirty beauty tool, we get faster hair contamination, deterioration in the appearance of the hairstyle, and even the formation of problems with the scalp and hairline.
The choice of cleaning product and method directly depends on the material, shape, and thickness of the comb.
General recommendations:
- remove hair from the comb after each comb;
- Wash and clean this accessory regularly;
- add aroma oils to the water for rinsing the comb;
- update your combs more often, they should not last forever and be inherited from generation to generation;
- To protect your comb from getting dirty, you can try the following method: before combing, put a damp cloth on your teeth, remove it after combing and throw it away.
How to clean a comb?
The cleaning process strongly depends not only on the degree of contamination. Its effectiveness is equally influenced by the material from which the brush is made, the type of teeth and the presence of protective coating. The chosen method and the thoroughness of the procedure also contribute.
Use your fingers to clear hair from your brush.
Important! In all cases, before you start cleaning the comb using any means, it must be completely free of accumulated hair and debris!
Plastic
This type of comb is the most unpretentious. They calmly “accept” any means, they are convenient to handle and can be washed without fear of spoiling anything. In a prepared container or large (for example, liter) cup, prepare a cleaning solution consisting of water and a small amount of shampoo.
You need to dilute the shampoo in a bowl and dip the comb into the solution.
You will also need ammonia - about a tablespoon. The brush should soak in the resulting liquid for at least an hour. This solution does a good job of dissolving accumulated fat and residues from cosmetic products. After soaking, the brush should be rinsed well with running water.
Many housewives use ammonia.
Note! Since ammonia is a fairly aggressive substance, you need to wear protective gloves when working with it.
How to clean a wooden comb
Wood is a practical material in every way except for one thing - it is very afraid of water, even with a coating applied. Therefore, such products should be carefully protected from prolonged exposure to moisture.
First of all, you need to manually remove hair from the comb.
On the one hand, such a brush will be environmentally friendly, and on the other hand, it requires more scrupulous care. Since wooden combs cannot be soaked for any length of time, basic cleaning is done with alcohol and a cotton swab (you can use an ear swab).
Wooden combs are popular to use.
It is necessary to process not only the external surfaces, recesses and joints, but also the teeth, as well as the surface on which they are distributed.
The alcohol will help clean the comb.
Brush comb
Typically, brushes of this type tolerate preventive procedures using a solution that includes hydrogen peroxide, soap and alcohol. All of the above must be mixed in equal quantities, and then soak the working part, completely immersing it in the solution.
It takes about an hour to stand. After this, all that remains is to clean off any remaining dirt using an old toothbrush.
How to clean dirt from a massage comb?
As a rule, such models are made using three or more materials: base, soft substrate, teeth. This should be kept in mind. Basically, the process occurs using a vinegar-soda solution: pour a couple of tablespoons of vinegar into a couple of liters of warm water and add a tablespoon of soda.
Immerse the brush with the working part in it and leave for 15 minutes. Afterwards, rinse well with running water and leave to dry.
Note! If the base of the brush is made of wood, the vinegar solution will have to be replaced with soapy water with the addition of dishwashing detergent.
Clean your massage combs more often.
Metal
Most often, only some parts of brushes are made of metal: base, teeth, decorative inserts. Such products made entirely of iron are extremely rare, since it is quite difficult to clean a comb of this type without causing harm.
Metal combs are not difficult to wash.
In most cases, the following method is used: the metal parts need to be lightly sprinkled with water so that they are only slightly damp. Then, using a toothbrush with medium-hard bristles and a small amount of regular soda, carefully remove all visible dirt.
A toothbrush will help you get rid of dirty combs faster.
After this, just rinse with water to remove any residue and dry thoroughly.
How to clean a bristle brush
Again, you should choose a method based on the material from which the brush is made. For example, a plastic product can be washed with any means, while the same one made of wood or metal, and especially with pile, must be processed only in a certain way.
Natural bristles need to be washed carefully.
Typically, these brushes are made from natural materials, so they cannot be washed with any products using chemicals. The best thing to do here is to rinse your work surface with shampoo. Residual dirt will have to be cleaned off additionally, for example, with the same brush or manually.
Cleaning your round comb
Due to its shape, it is the most difficult thing to put in order. This is partly due to the arrangement of the teeth, and partly due to the bristly projections with which their bases are often supplied.
To wash your massage brush, use a proven method - cleaning with soda and vinegar.
Before you clean the comb from dirt and deposits, you should remove all hair from it - the technology is the same: a toothpick or the tips of sharp scissors. In any case, this must be done without fail! The next step will be soaking the main part of the comb in a special composition, which includes water, hydrogen peroxide, shampoo and ammonia (all mixed in equal proportions).
Clean your combs frequently to avoid excessive contamination.
You need to immerse the brush in the prepared solution, teeth down, and leave it there for half an hour (work with protective gloves - ammonia). Then rinse well under running water with good pressure. If there is still dirt left, you can brush it off with a toothbrush.
Round combs require careful care.
Where does dirt come from?
The scalp and hair get dirty regularly.
You can see this by carefully examining the comb. Dirt in the form of a gray coating usually clogs the space between the bristles or teeth. The brush is mainly soiled by dead skin particles, dandruff, and dusty fluff. And this does not include moderate hair loss. And the styling products used for styling (varnish, foam, gel, wax) also glue all of the above. The desire to clean the comb of hair and dirt should be a priority, along with washing and brushing your teeth. After all, combing with a dirty brush harms your hair. Just washed your hair and then used an unwashed accessory? Wasted time. Your hair will look untidy. But this is not the worst thing.
Disinfection of combs
At a minimum, preventive disinfection must be carried out for the handle and body - no one can guarantee that the hands that handle this brush are always clean and washed. In addition, complete disinfection should be carried out once a month.
Any comb must be disinfected.
Typically, alcohol or vinegar solution (1:1) is used for this. Vinegar is used to clean the working part: pour the solution into a tall cup and immerse the brush in it to the desired depth. Leave for 20 minutes, then rinse well. The handle and base are treated with alcohol.
Important! It is impossible not to mention such an unpleasant phenomenon as pediculosis. In this case, a chlorine solution (10%) is used to disinfect the working part. The holding time must be at least 30 minutes.
Directions for use: care recommendations
Of course, the basic rules of operation are clear on an intuitive level, but if an expensive product made of ebony wood with raccoon hair is thrown under the bed or in the bathroom, it will not last long. Therefore, how to clean a comb and how to handle it still matters.
Take care of your combs.
It is necessary to adhere to generally accepted recommendations:
- Remove hair and small debris every day, for example in the evening.
- Perform deep rinsing weekly.
- Don’t forget to periodically disinfect this personal hygiene item.
- Products made of wood or with wooden inserts should not be wetted with water or left in a humid environment (in the bathroom).
- Do not use a dirty comb on clean hair.
- After washing, you need to dry everything well to avoid mold.
- A brush with bristles or lint must be cleaned carefully, being careful not to damage the hairs.
- Change - at least once a year.
The main key to beauty and health has always been, is and will be cleanliness.
Thus, regular care and careful handling will significantly extend the life of the comb and maintain an attractive appearance. Often, a good mood also depends on its cleanliness.
Use quality combs.
In most cases this is true. Knowing how to clean a comb, you can successfully use it for a very long time, delighting yourself with a new hairstyle and healthy, clean hair.
Table vinegar
Vinegar 9% contains natural antiseptics and is an inexpensive cleaning solution for brushes. The solution is known to kill bacteria and remove sticky residue accumulated in mousse, hair gel and other styling products. Cleaning your comb with vinegar requires minimal effort.
You will need: an enamel measuring cup, a plastic bowl or pan, table vinegar, a towel.
Actions:
Pour two cups of hot water and two cups of vinegar into a mixing bowl or saucepan. The water must be at least 70 degrees. This step is very important because the temperature of the water, according to experts, kills head lice, germs and bacteria.
Grasp the handle of the comb and dip the ends of the bristles into the vinegar solution. Dip it just enough to release any accumulated dirt, but not for long as it may melt the brush. But if you used tap water, you can soak your brush for a few minutes. Remove the hair comb from the vinegar mixture. Remove dirt, lint and hair using your hands. Rinse the brush in clean water to remove the vinegar smell.
* When cleaning metal hair brushes or combs in vinegar, protect your hands from burns.
