Thread: Do you clean your brush?

I was curious if you are supposed to clean your shaving brush every now and then. I saw some brush cleaning tablets at classicshaving.com and it got me wondering. So does anyone clean there brush? If so, how and how often? Does it improve the quality of the shave any?

Some do and some don't. I clean mine with borax 1x a year just for GPs but they don't really need it. I find if you thoroughly clean your brushes after each use you avoid problems down the road.

in my 10 years of using low quality vdh brushes.. i never washed them.. now that i'm using higher quality brushes.. i may start.. so far i just thoroughly rinse after the shave, shake out as much water as i can.. swirl the brush on a clean towel to dry a little more.. then i leave the brush sitting out to continue air drying..

mantic59 has a video that explains how to clean a brush by soaking in borax.. i havn't done it yet and i'm still trying to decide whether i should listen to everything his videos suggest. as quite a few of them seem to be overkill.

Thanks for the replies. I'll just keep on thoroughly washing out my brush with water after each shave and not worry any farther.

A key is hanging your brush, not setting it upside down with the bristles up in the air...that's a no-no IMO. If you rinse your brush well in the hot water, shake it out well and hang it in a holder bristle down, you should get mucho use out of it no matter if it's a $10 boar or a $200+ custom...

I clean the brush before first using it, and whenever I start to see some soap buildup at the base of the shafts. That may take years, depending on how many brushes you use in rotation, but it is important as the buildup may cause weakening of the hair shaft.

Here are a couple of good instructional videos from Em's Place.

Originally Posted by RayG

I clean the brush before first using it, and whenever I start to see some soap buildup at the base of the shafts. That may take years, depending on how many brushes you use in rotation, but it is important as the buildup may cause weakening of the hair shaft.

Here are a couple of good instructional videos from Em's Place.

+1. I basically do the same thing. I will follow the cleaning instructions from Em's Place when I see some soap buildup at the base of bristles.

I do wash mine. A dab in Borax, followed by gentle detergent rub, followed by a vinegar (20%)/Glycerin (few drops) solution. Rinse and Viola...you are good to go.

I use a brush that is made from natural badger hair so I treat it just like I would treat the hair on my head. My experience is that if I use hand soap to wash my hair, my hair feels like it it has a coating on it. When I use shampoo my hair feels clean. Following this reasoning every few weeks I get a small dot of shampoo and wash my brush. I don't know if it makes the bristles any better but it makes me feel better.

Originally Posted by RaiderShaver

I was curious if you are supposed to clean your shaving brush every now and then. I saw some brush cleaning tablets at classicshaving.com and it got me wondering. So does anyone clean there brush? If so, how and how often? Does it improve the quality of the shave any?

Every once in a while I soak it in alcohol for about 15 minutes, and also do it if I purchase a used brush.