Why Do I See Lint in Hairbrush? How to Get Rid of It?

As if there were a lack of hair issues to be bothered about. On top of that, your hairbrush has been added to your concern.

That’s because you found lint in it. 

Now you have to know why there is lint in hairbrush?

Well, maybe it’s your scalp rejuvenation period. That’s why dead skin cells are coming off on your brush. Or maybe you’re not cleaning the hairbrush properly. So, dirt and debris have turned into lint. Apart from these, there can be other uncommon reasons behind it.

To know all of the causes, why don’t you stay with us till the end. And do yourself a favor by scrolling down. 

What is The Lint in My Hairbrush?

Lint is mainly dead skin cells coming off when the scalp rejuvenates. 

During the rejuvenation period, the old skin peels off. 

This process is the same for all of your skin. For our face and body, we don’t exactly see the peeling.

The reason is, it gets peeled while we’re having a shower or cleansing. But for our scalp, it’s different. Because we generally comb our hair regularly. So when we do that, the skin peels off sometimes. And the dead skin cells reside on the hairbrush.

If you don’t clean the brush regularly, there can be a huge lint buildup. Sometimes, dandruff gets added to that as well.

Slowly, the color of the lint becomes grey. Otherwise, it remains whiteish. Most of the time, the lint gets stuck in hairbrush bristles. Sometimes it gets stuck in the hairbrush plate.

You might even see some of the lint on your hair straightener as well. However, that only happens if the lint is too much. 

The lint burns while you straighten your hair. Then your hair will be stinky after you straighten it

 So let’s check how much lint your brush has on it.

How to Know If The Lint is Too Much?

There’s no other way to check the lint than trusting your eyes. So just see if the lint is only on the bristles. Or if they’ve already covered the whole hairbrush bed. If the hair bed is covered as well as the bristles,   it’s a lot of lint.

In that case, you’ll see dandruff on your clothes sometimes. Or maybe some white or grey particles on hair. Because that’ll then add to the lint in the hairbrush.

Why is There Lint in My Hairbrush?

There are a lot of reasons why you get lint in a hairbrush. So we’ve listed all the probable causes one by one. You better check them out.

Hairbrush Not Cleaned Well

The main reason is that the hairbrush is not cleaned properly. That’s the reason, dust and debris gather in the hairbrush. Also, the short frizzy hair, dead skin cells, and dandruff also get mixed up. 

All of this turns into lint. As you’re not cleaning it, the amount of lint keeps adding up. 

Heavy Hair Products Add to Lint

Another thing that happens is that hair products get stuck inside the hairbrush. Some of these products have heavy consistency.

When we apply them, some residue gets stuck on the brush. As we often don’t clean the brush regularly. That’s why the residue keeps building up every day.

Dandruff Turned into Lint

As we’ve already mentioned, dandruff is a part of lint. So if you’ve got dandruff issues, it’s most likely that you’ll see lint in your hairbrush.

Your scalp gets too dry or greasy because of dandruff. All of the gunk then ends up in the hairbrush.

Dry Shampoo Residue Can Be A Part of Lint

We often skip washing our hair and use dry shampoo instead. 

Well, there’s nothing wrong with using dry shampoo. But while using it, be prepared to see some of the residues on your comb.

The bristles take on some of the whitish dry shampoo residues. Thus lint takes place. 

Scalp Rejuvenation Period

Remember how we talked about scalp and skin rejuvenation? Well, the skin itself rejuvenates once every month. During that time, the dead portion of the scalp will come off. Most of it gets stuck on your hairbrush.

So if you comb frequently then, the bristles help exfoliate the scalp.

Thus you’ll see more lint on your hairbrush, about once a month.

Fuzz from Hair Accessories Adds to The Lint

Who doesn’t love to decorate their hair with decorative headbands? Well, definitely us. 

What we noticed is, some fuzz from the hair accessory remains on the hair. While combing, it transfers to the hairbrush and gets stuck between the bristles. So this might happen to you as well. Now the fuzz is also a part of lint.

Broken Frizzy Hair Becomes Lint

As we’ve mentioned earlier, frizzy broken hair can turn into lint. Because the tiny broken pieces come out by combing. They remain in the hairbrush and slowly accumulate to become lint.

When these stray hairs get mixed with other particles, it becomes a whole mess.

Dust And Debris from The Pillow Gets Stuck in Hair

Hair gets in touch with a lot of substance. For example, your hair spends about 6-8 hours at least on your pillow.

Now there might be dust or debris in the pillow. Within this time, the particles can mix up with your hair. The next morning when you comb, it transfers to the comb.

This keeps on repeating and the lint builds up.

Using Shampoo Too Frequently

You might wonder how shampooing can cause lint in hairbrushes. To be honest, it’s related to the lint. When you shampoo frequently, the natural oil from the scalp gets washed away.

Then the scalp becomes extra dry so it starts to shed frequently. So all of that goes to the hairbrush and causes lint. 

How Can I Clean The Hairbrush to Remove Lint without Wetting it?

We totally get it if you want to clean the brush by keeping it dry. You may think that making it wet and clean thoroughly will be lengthy. It may even cause a lot of hassle. Well, in that case, check these dry cleaning methods.

We’ve arranged the solutions based on how quick to lengthy they are. But first, check out this quick teaser. It will help you to choose between alternative solutions.

Alternatives

Effectiveness

Duration

Hairbrush Cleaner

High to Medium

Quick

Slime

Medium to low

Moderate

Toothpick

Medium

Lengthy

Tweezers

Medium

Lengthy

Elmer’s Glue

Low

Lengthy

After this quick preview, it should be easier for you to find the solution you want. 

Try A Hairbrush Cleaner

You can look for some hairbrush cleanser. They’re available both in-store and online. Just purchase one. And use it to remove the hairbrush lint. It mostly looks like a steel broom. 

Moreover, it’s suitable to remove lint from both steel and boar bristle brushes. Here’s what we use-

kent hair brush cleaner

Kent Hair Brush Cleaner

peyan hair brush cleaner

Peyan Hair Brush Cleaner

Just brush it over your hairbrush and it’ll pick any lint and residue. 

Put Your Slime to Work

Well, it’s slime time. Not only are they satisfying to squeeze, but they’re also useful. So let’s tell you how you can use slime to remove lint from the hairbrush.

First, place your hairbrush on a table or flat surface. Then pour the slime on top of it. By nature, the slime will slide from the bristles onto the brush bed. In the meantime, it’ll absorb all the residues from the brush. 

To make it happen, you have to wait for about 2 minutes. Then just remove the slime. Check to see the slime is dirty and your hairbrush is clean.

Depending on the amount of lint, you may have to repeat the process. In the end, it’ll work like magic. But you have to throw the slime away. Because that will be super dirty and unhygienic. 

Take A Toothpick

You might try using a toothpick to clean lint from your hairbrush. So, just take a toothpick and hold one of its ends. Then run it between the bristles closer to the brush bed.

clean hairbrush with toothpick
Source: hellonest.co

As you run it, you’ll see the toothpick picking lint. When the toothpick is halfway dirty, throw it away. And then take a new one and repeat the process.

Once you’re done, the lint will be gone. 

Use Tweezers for Hair Removal

In case that broken hair has been messing around, use a tweezer. And then with the help of a tweezer, pick any visible residue. 

It might take a bit of time. So, use this method if you have enough time. You’ll need to pick all the residue one at a time. If you’re lucky, you might be able to pick several particles at the same time.

Continue picking until there’s no lint left. Then, it’ll all be good. 

Apply Elmer’s Glue

Well, you might have heard about Elmer’s glue. Maybe some friend suggested to you glue lint out of the brush.

But you took the suggestion lightly. Well, if someone asked me to apply glue on a hairbrush, I wouldn’t believe it either.

But believe us when we say, it can be the solution. Because we’ve done proper research on it.

All you need to do is pour a generous amount of glue on the brush. Make sure the glue covers the brush plate but avoids the bristles. 

 Now, wait for 24 hours. Because it’ll need this time to dry completely. Then just peel it off gently.

With the glue, all of the lint will come off. While it might be a proper solution for some, it’s certainly not for everyone. Because some people complain about the glue destroying the brush.

So it’s up to you if you want to take the chance or not. 

How Can I Clean The Brush Fully to Maintain Hygiene? – 3 Steps!

You may want a complete clean-up for the hairbrush. In that case, you have to follow 3 simple steps. And at the end, you’ll have a hairbrush that’s good as new.

But make sure you’ve done one of the dry cleaning methods before moving to the steps. If you haven’t done those yet, do that first. And then follow the steps.

And good luck following the instructions.

Step 1: Wash The Hairbrush

The first step is to wash the comb. For that, you can use 2 methods. Just choose any one of the methods that’s convenient to you. The methods are-

The Bleach Method

If you’re looking for cleaning a huge amount of lint fast, go for this method. But make sure that your brush is metal or plastic. Otherwise, don’t use this method.

Take 1 tablespoon of bleach in a mixing jar. Then add 1 cup of water to it. Mix it with a spoon. And soak the brush in it for 5 minutes maximum. Then take the brush out and clean it with normal water.

And you’re done.

Baking Soda Method

Using baking soda to remove lint is quite popular. But let’s tell you what type of brush you can clean with baking soda. Apply this method for metal, plastic brushes, or even combs. 

clean hairbrush with baking soda
Source: tidymom.net

To apply this method, you’ll need-

  • A clean bowl
  • 2 cups of warm water
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon mild shampoo

Now mix all the ingredients into the bowl. And dip the brush in it. Wait for 10 minutes. With the help of another brush or toothbrush, clean it.  Then proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Lather And Put The Hairbrush on it

Now place the brush in a large bowl. Then take 1 tablespoon of mild shampoo and 1 teaspoon liquid soap. Mix them well with 5 cups of hot water. Now lather it up. And place the brush inside of it for 5 minutes.

Try to remove any remaining dirt with your hands. Just gently rub your fingers in between the brush bristles. It should do the work. 

Then wash the brush with water until all the soapiness goes away. Finally, move onto the last step.

Step 3: Dry The Hairbrush Properly

Lastly, you have to dry the brush fully. In order to do that, place the brush upside down over a towel.

Once the water drips away, it’ll start to dry. Now, wait for overnight to let it dry. The next morning, wipe the brush with a towel. This will make sure that no water is inside the brush. 

Your brush will be lint-free.

How to Prevent Lint Build-up in Hairbrush?- 3 Tricks!

By maintaining some basic hacks, you can prevent lint build-up. So just check them now. 

Trick 1 of 3: Maintain Regular Cleaning

To be honest, there’s no alternative to regular cleaning. If you go through regular cleansing, you can avoid the extra hassle. Because then you won’t have to encounter lint so often.

You can use any of the dry cleaning methods as regular cleaning. We would suggest you go with the brush cleaner. Because that’s the most convenient one.

Trick 2 of 3: Emphasize on Hair Cleaning

You need to go through proper hair cleansing. So that there’s no dirt from hair getting to the brush. But keep at least a day gap between shampooing. 

If you use dry shampoo don’t comb the hair immediately. Take 10-15 minutes to let the dry shampoo dissolve completely. Then comb the hair. 

Trick 3 of 3: Keep up with Haircare Routine

Try to take go through a proper hair care routine. So that the hair won’t be too dry or oily. For that, you can clean the hair properly and use a conditioner. 

Apply lightweight moisturizing hair creams. So that the hair stays fine. And the brush won’t pick the residue of frizzy damaged hair.

This way you won’t see any lint on your hairbrush. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Question: Is there any other way to prevent lint build-up in the hairbrush?

Answer: Yes, you can maintain proper hygiene. Like cleaning pillows and headbands properly after a short period of time. So that every substance your hair keeps in touch with remains clean. And it will prevent lint build-up in the future.

Question: How long should I use a hairbrush?

Answer: You can use a hairbrush for 6-12 months. But if you see bristles coming off, then you have to change the brush. And if there’s a huge lint build-up then also you have to change the brush.

How to clean lint from wooden brushes?

For wooden brushes and natural bristles, use 5 drops of tea tree essential oil. Mix it with 1 cup of warm water. Dip a toothbrush in it. And use this toothbrush to rub and clean your hairbrush.

Bottomline

Here we are at the bottom of the article. You’ve gained a bunch of knowledge about lint in hairbrush. 

If you still have queries, we’re all ears. Just comment down below.

Adios! 

Katharyn Riedel

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