5 Ways to Wash Your Makeup Brushes

I don’t know about you, but cleaning my makeup brushes is always the chore I dread the most. Even when I try to stay on top of things, the dirty brushes typically pile up high before I finally break down and wash them. There are so many different types of ways to clean your makeup brushes, so I thought I would share the 5 ways I use on a regular basis.

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5 Ways to Wash Your Makeup Brushes

1) Baby Shampoo

This is the most common method I use when I want to deep clean my brushes — specifically my face brushes. I opt for the Johnson’s Baby Shampoo because it’s very affordable and still gets the job done. If you don’t know how to use a liquid soap like this to wash your makeup brushes, just pour a little into your hand (or cleaning glove/mat, like I have), wet your brush, and then swirl it into the soap. Make sure you swirl it long enough to get the soap down into the bristles and then just rinse it with warm water. Repeat steps until your brush is spotless. Squeeze the water out (being careful not to get water into the ferrule) and lay it flat to dry. That’s it!

Whenever I use this type of soap and water method to wash your makeup brushes I really like using my Sigma Spa Express Brush Cleaning Glove. With all the different grooves and bumps it makes it easier to swirl your brush and clean deep down in the bristles. Foundation can be such a pain to get out! A cheaper option would be a pot holder like this. You can find these at the dollar store. Or even a silicone oven mitt will work, though it doesn’t have the variety of grooves in it that the gloves specifically designed for cleaning makeup brushes will have.

2) Brush Bath

The cool aspect of this method is that you don’t have to wet your brush, so the wait time after cleaning your brush is almost nonexistent. I’ve seen a few different brands that have products that work this way, but I’ve been using the Brush Bath by It Cosmetics for a while now and really like it. It’s ideal for those days when I need a specific brush that I haven’t had the time to clean yet.

It couldn’t be easier to use — just spritz it 4 or 5 times onto the brush and swirl it onto a napkin until all the makeup comes out. I don’t like to use this to clean brushes that I use cream products on, but it works great to get out powders!

3) Cinema Secrets

If I am not mistaken, this method is a favorite of makeup artists and, consequently, probably how beauty influencers found out about it 🙂 ). This is another method that does not require water to clean your brushes. I like to use this method in between deep cleaning them with the baby shampoo. So, for example, probably a little over once a week I will use the Cinema Secrets to clean all my dirty brushes, and then probably every 6-8 weeks I will take all my brushes to the bathroom sink and give them a lot of TLC with the baby shampoo.

Side Note: I actually think I discovered a drugstore dupe for this baby. Let me know if you’d want to see a dupe or dud soon! <3

You need some type of shallow bowl to pour the product into — here I am using the top of a salad dressing bottle that I was about to recycle. All you have to do is dip your brush into the product and the product, literally, gets sucked up into the bristles. The picture on the top right in the collage above was taken about a second after I placed my brush into the liquid. See how the dish is almost empty now? All that cleaning solution is now in the brush, working it’s magic. Pretty cool, right?! Now you move to a napkin or towel and swirl the brush until you don’t see any more product being transferred onto the towel: lay it flat to air dry and you’re done!

4) Bar of Soap

This is another fantastic and affordable way to clean your brushes. Any brand will do, I just make sure it it’s fragrance free. I hate using a bar of soap for washing my hands or my body, so the only reason I buy them is for my makeup brushes. 😛 It’s quick and easy, though, and while I don’t always use it to clean my regular makeup brushes, this is my go-to method for cleaning my beauty blender and makeup sponges.

After I get my sponge a bit damp, I just swirl it into the bar of soap and rotate it until the entire sponge has had contact with the soap. Then I rinse and squeeze it under running water to get all the soap out. I probably have to go back and forth maybe 2-3 times, but it comes out super clean. This beauty blender is getting pretty old — about time to replace it — but it still comes out to it’s original pink color every time. So quick and easy!

5) DIY Makeup Brush Cleaner

I just had to share this quick DIY. Because there have been days when I go to wash deep clean brushes and realize I am out or barely have any baby shampoo left. All you need is antibacterial soap (to clean and disinfect) and argan oil (to nourish your bristles). If you don’t have argan oil handy, you can use extra virgin olive oil as well. I haven’t tried, this, but another option I have heard to use instead of antibacterial dish soap is your shampoo.

Use any type of jar to mix your products in. This one is a bit small if you had a lot of makeup brushes to wash, but it was just laying around the house so I figured I’d use it. You want to mix 2 parts dish soap and about 1 1/2 parts oil.

Then screw the cap on and give it a good shake to mix the two together. It’ll stay mixed for a while, but after an hour or two the oil will separate from the dish soap and you’ll have to give it another quick shake.

Now that you have your easy DIY makeup brush cleaner, you just use it like you would baby shampoo. When I clean my eye brushes I also make sure to turned the Sigma glove inside out to expose the smaller grooves (which are intended for eye brushes). A few quick swirls, a rinse under water, and you’re brush is clean and good to go!

There You Have It!

Those are 5 ways that you can wash your makeup brushes. Maybe I’m a little excessive to have so many different ways to wash with, but it’s a chore I really hate, so any way to make it easier, cut down on the time spent on a regular basis, I am all for it!

What is your favorite way to wash your makeup brushes? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

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