How to Easily & Naturally Clean Your Make-Up Brushes

This page contains some affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you purchase through these links. I only recommend products that I LOVE and personally use. Read more here.

We’ve all heard that it’s important to keep your make-up brushes clean, though this is easier said than done! After working for an all-natural beauty brand, I learned a simple way of cleaning brushes that is super effective! I couldn’t believe how easy, fast, and inexpensive this method is and wished that I had known about it sooner! Read on to learn this easy method for effectively cleaning your make-up brushes using just one tool and natural castile soap.

Cleaning your make-up brushes helps to prevent a build-up of bacteria, oil, dirt, and old make-up (that can start to go rancid) on your brushes. All of these things can lead to acne breakouts, redness, and irritation of your skin. If you have sensitive skin or are prone to breakouts, getting into the habit of regularly cleaning your brushes can be one step forward in improving the health of your skin.

Before learning about this method, I was totally guilty of only cleaning my brushes once every few months. I found that cleaning them took so long that it became a huge hassle and something I dreaded doing. With the method I describe below, my brushes are cleaned so much faster and more efficiently. I used to wash my brushes by swirling them in the palm of my hand, and this just didn’t seem to be very effective so it would take a long time. It is now completely attainable to wash them once every couple of weeks, and it’s not something I dread doing anymore! I now look forward to my nice clean brushes!

Here’s what you need (just 2 items!):

Natural castile soap. I love the Green Beaver unscented one. You can also use a natural shampoo, or a natural castile-based dish soap.

Silicone brush cleaner tool. I chose this one because I love the strap on the back for easily holding it in one hand. I also loved that the sides curve up to prevent a mess, and the cute colour! But there are several other options on Amazon, depending on the style and colour you prefer. I’ve used smaller ones without the strap on the back, and they’re definitely not quite as easy to use as this one!

How to clean your brushes:

Wet your brushes, then add some soap to your silicone brush cleaner.
Swirl the bristles in a circular motion around the cleaning tool, allowing the soap to create suds.

Rinse the bristles, and gently squeeze out the excess water, until the water runs clear (repeat the cleaning if necessary).
Lay your brushes flat to dry on a clean cloth (laying them flat is important so that water doesn’t run into where the bristles connect to the brush handle, which will loosen the bristles over time).

And that’s all there is to it! If you find that you still aren’t able to wash your brushes as often as you’d like, another tip you can implement is to use a brush freshener in between uses. This brush freshener uses essential oils and alcohol to kill any harmful bacteria that may be there. You can even spray it occasionally on your makeup as well, such as on pressed powders (first do a skin patch test to be sure your skin is not sensitive to the ingredients).