Brushes Part 2 … How to Clean Brushes

Earlier in the week I posted about why it is important to clean your brushes and now as promised I’m writing a post on how best to clean your brushes.

The quickest and easiest way to clean your brushes is to spot clean. To do this you simple take a tissue, spray on some brush cleaner and wipe your brush backwards and forward. You do this until there is no product left in the bristles. This is an easy way to remove colour from eye shadow brushes for people at home who don’t want to deep clean their brushes every day. Makeup artist also do this between clients. Not only does brush cleaner remove makeup from brushes it also sanitises them, killing that unwanted bacteria I mentioned earlier in the week. I couldn’t find the Gorgeous Cosmetics brush cleaner online but you can purchase my other favourite spot cleaning products from here and here.

 

Swipe the brush back and forth until all product is removed

Favourite spot cleaning products

However the best way to clean your brushes is to give them a really good deep clean. Every makeup artist does this after they have finished using their brushes for the day. There are many products you can use to do this. Some people choose to use baby shampoo but my favourite product is Sards Wonder Soap. I like this product because it cuts through everything. Foundation and lipstick, especially red lipstick, are tough to get out of brushes. I find that the Sards soap gets the job done quicker than anything else I’ve tried.

 

Can be found in the cleaning aisle with the laundry products

Firstly you want to run some warm water, make sure that it’s not too hot. Place the palm of your hand under the water flow. Rest the bristles of the brush on your fingers (make sure the bristles are always facing down), the water will run down your palm onto your fingers. You don’t want to put your brush directly under the water flow.

 

Once your bristles are damp run the brush along the Sards soap a couple of time, now rub the brush along your fingers a couple of times. This creates a washboard effect and the friction will allow the soap to work among the bristles to remove any product. Once you’ve built up a lather place your palm back under the water and run the brush along you fingers to remove the Sards soap. If the brush still looks dirty repeat the process until product is remove.

To test if the product is no longer in the brush, once the lather has formed pinch the bristles between your fingers, the lather will be pushed up and out of the bristles. If the soap is clean, so is your brush.

Make sure to remove all soap from the bristles once finished cleaning. When your brush is clean squeeze out any excess water then reshape your brush. To dry place the brush on its side. It’s best if your bristles sit over the edge of something. This allows the air to flow around all the bristles and also helps ensure the brushes shape. Laying a brush on a flat surface is going to result in one side of the brushes bristles being flat. Allow the brush to dry and you’re all done.

Tips: Never ever dry your brushes with the bristles facing up. This allows water to drip down into the ferrule which can eventually lead to the breakdown of the glue that is holding your brush together. This can cause hairs to fall out when applying makeup to your face and shorten the lifetime of your brushes.
You don’t have to clean your brushes every day if you are only using them on yourself however I do recommend that you clean deep clean them at least once a week.
Wash your brushes at night, that way they will be dry in the morning and ready to use.
An optional step to deep cleaning your brushes is to spray them with an alcohol based spray once done. I do this once I’ve lined all my brushes up to dry and again before I put them away. You can purchase the spray I use from here.