Brush Delite Cleaning Hair Brushes

BRUSH DELITE

Deep Cleaning Brush Cleanser

So I had been wanting to deep clean my hair brushes for quite some time. Yes I could have just thrown them away and bought new ones, but I thought I am going to try to deep clean them myself and save some money. So I picked out my most used brushes (which obviously were also my oldest brushes) and went to work. I had gone into Sally's Beauty Supply (local public beauty supply) and picked up some brush cleaner. I had been eyeing it for a while and thought, now is the time. I had four brushes/combs at home that desperately needed to be cleaned.

Brushes/Combs Pre Cleaning.

So a few days later I picked up one of my teasing combs, saw all the caked hair spray on it, and said "Today is the Day". I looked at the directions on the bottle and they were not that clear but it turned out to be pretty simple. Basically it said to WEAR GLOVES (anytime it says wear gloves, I put on a mask) and mix the powder into 4.7 liters of lukewarm water in a plastic pail and leave for an hour. You could repeat if needed, I did not need too. Than you need to Rinse all the brushes/combs with cold water.

This is the link to the product for further instructions and information. I would highly suggest reading it because it states certain types of brushes that cannot be cleaned and how to store it. http://www.barbicide.com/products/brush-delite/

I did not have a plastic pail big enough for what they specified, but I had one about half the size. So I put in half the powder with half the liters of water. At first I could not understand why you would need such a large plastic pail, but once I put my brushes in, it all made sense. It had to be deep and long enough for the brushes/combs to fit and submerge to soak in the mixture. If I had a larger pail, I could have cleaned a couple more brushes and submerged my round brush better.

Brushes/Combs Soaking. Gloves I used.
I kept the Handle of My Mason Pearson Out because it was not that
dirty and was not sure what it was made out of.

I will definitely say that at first there was a bit of an odd smell to the mixture, but I would expect that considering it is a cleaning solution. It was not overpowering when I took the mask off after I was done mixing it and placing the brushes in, but I did leave the bathroom fan on and open a window. I am very sensitive to smells and they can leave me with headaches so I take extra precautions. I had a friend over at the time and he said he could not smell anything. I think when you are working with a mixture, you just smell it more. Once the hour was over, I thoroughly rinsed the brushes and dumped the mixture down the toilet. I never smelt it again. I let them sit for about a day and than tested them all out by blowing out my hair and everything went fine.

The following are the brushes/combs that I use the most and chose to clean. I cleaned my Champion 9" Pin Long and Short Comb, my Marilyn Teasing/Backcombing Boar Bristle Brush, my Mason Pearson Pocket Nylon Hair Brush and my T3 Medium Ceramic and Tourmaline Round Brush. Now obviously I chose these brushes/combs due to the fact that they are obviously my favorites since I have about 10 others that I never use. I would have to say my Mason Pearson was my most sentimental brush that I cleaned and was nervous about. I remember the day that I got it. I bought my Mason Pearson in 2006 and I was going to buy a new one since it was getting gross looking but it still worked great. I am so happy that I cleaned it and it is back to normal for a brush that old. I still might buy a new one, only because it has lasted so long in such great working order. Also because the Nylon is usually recommended for thick hair and the boar bristle ones are recommended for fine to normal hair. I have fine to normal hair, so considering the quality of this brush (it deserves it's own post), I might treat myself to a boar bristle one soon. My hair can be deceiving because it is edging on the fine side but there is a lot of it.

Here are the Clean Brushes:

Post Cleaning.

Here are a Picture of the Brushes Pre and Post Cleaning Individually:

T3 Round Brush Pre Cleaning

T3 Round Brush Post Cleaning

Combs Pre Cleaning

Combs Post Cleaning
You can see where the Champion Paint
Came off. 

Mason Pearson Pre Cleaning

Mason Pearson Post Cleaning
WOW what a Difference!

I am very impressed with the results. They are remarkably clean and look so nice and clean. The only bad thing I could say is, it took off some of the painted Logo writing on my combs but I could care less about that.

Final Thoughts:
I am so glad that I deep cleaned my brushes. Don't get me wrong, I am not gross, I would rinse them once a week and wipe them down with wet wipes but never have I used any sort of Official Hair Brush Cleaning Product. I am so happy that I did, because not only did it make my brushes beautiful but it saved me money. I am such a "clean freak" that usually I just throw something away and buy it new when it gets old or needs a deep clean. I am trying for many reasons (save money, the environment, share tips, etc,) to change. I have listed below the price of what I paid (rounded Up) for the brushes alone (keeping in mind that 3 out of the 4 are from years ago). The prices could have changed. I really hope this post has inspired anyone like me who is a "clean freak" to try to beautify something that is old and to keep your brushes clean. We all talk about cleaning our makeup brushes all the time, hair brushes are important too.

$12.00 Champion 9" Pin Comb
$15.00 Marilyn Brush
$45.00 Mason Pearson Nylon Pocket
$15.00 T3 Medium Ceramic and Tourmaline Brush

Thanks,

Sik Glam