From basic hair styling tools that can help keep our hair tangle free to giving us that Victoria Secret blow out locks, our hair tools allow us to maintain and style our hair in any way we think of. This is a great way to add our personality to our appearance. These are tools that we constantly use, but a lot of us tend to never clean it. Like your hair, your tools can gather dirt and germs that can affect your hair and styling. From clogged blow dryers to left over styling product on your hairbrush. This can wreck your hair and make it more prone to grease, damage and dryness. To help you, we’ve compiled the best ways to properly clean your favorite hair tools. Check out these tips and get them squeaky clean.
Combs
Combs are one of the tools we use on the daily, and is often left uncleaned. It can be difficult to clean this tool due to its shape and teeth. Left over products, oil, hair and other gunk can get stuck in the teeth of your comb – that can be easily put back in your hair. This gunk could linger and placing it under water is not enough. The ideal way to clean your comb is to soak it in hot water to loosen the dirt and use a brush and shampoo to clean in between. Rinse it thoroughly and dry it before using. If the gunk is too hard to remove use equal parts warm water and vinegar. Spray it on your comb and let it dry for 5 minutes and rinse.
Hair Accessories
Hair accessories are often easily broken and thrown away. Most people aren’t aware that leaving your hair accessories dirty can make it more prone to breaking. Oil and dirt can cause your Bobby pins to easily bend and slip from your hair. Hair ties can also cause hair odor if used continuously. Other hair accessories such as hair clips, duck clips, headbands and so one can be easily cleansed. Plastic hair accessories can be cleansed by soaking it in a mixture of shampoo and warm water. Fabric hair accessories can be cleansed by washing it with detergent and completely dried under the sun.
Curling and Flat Irons
A lot of us tend to leave our curling iron and flat irons dirty. However, leaving this as is can cause damage to the hair and can affect your hairstyle. It can cause frizz and allow the curls to fall. Metal plates on your curling irons and flat irons can be cleaned with a microfiber cloth and some lukewarm water. Wipe it dry with another microfiber cloth. Use cotton swabs to clean the small areas of your heat tools. Make sure to clean the handle too. Another tip to easily remove buildup is to clean the tool when it is on its lowest heat setting. Make sure to use heat safe fabric and glove to protect you. The heat can help make removing oil and grease from the tool.
Brushes
Brushes can easily acquire gunk and dirt over time. It may not be visible, but it can easily get in the crevices in the bristles. The first thing you need to do is to remove all the hair in the brush. You can use a Bobby pin to remove the hair. Once you are done soaking the brush in hot water. Use a toothbrush and shampoo to any dirt in between the bristles. Avoid bacteria in your brush by air drying the brush or use a blow dry. Make sure that your brush is heat resistant. Some brush cannot handle heat and will melt.
Rollers
Velcro rollers are prone to product build up. Removing moose and Hairspray are vital to keeping your Velcro rollers effective. Remove the hairs from your rollers and wash with lukewarm water and clarifying shampoo. If there is too much oil or dirt on the rollers, you can use equal parts vinegar and water. You can use a brush to remove dirt in plastic rollers. You can also use a baking soda and water soak to clean plastic hair accessories.
This cleaning guide will not only help cleanse your tools, but it can also prolong the life span of your tools. It can be a pain to clean them, but you really need to clean these tools to make styling easier and keep your hair looking and feeling great. There are different ways to clean your hair tools – above are some of the easiest methods. The frequency you cleanse your tools will depend on how much you use them. If you are a professional hair stylist, it is best to cleanse them every day. If you have methods that is more thorough and effective share it with us!
