a question about washing

[shinmina]

i've recently entered the world of natural hair brushes, and while i love using them, i can't help but think i'm damaging them when i wash them.

i've washed them a few times so far - each time using something different. beauty blender liquid cleanser, dr bronner's liquid castile soap, kose's deep cleansing oil, savon de marseille (olive oil based), and lastly baby shampoo i found at the grocery store (sulfate based, fragranced with chamomile. couldn't find unscented)

the problem is when they're drying. the hairs kind of dry in a clump at the tips and don't "fluff out." there's also a crispy(?) white residue on the tips of the hairs. when i first noticed it i actually washed and rinsed it again thinking it was makeup/soap residue. but it still had the same problem when drying...

for reference i'm using hakuhodo J series saikoho white goat brushes, koyudo goat brushes, and one koyudo squirrel brush. most of my brushes are fairly dense face and cheek brushes.

pictures!

after drying i also tried running through the tips of the hairs with a fine tooth comb, and that did a good job separating the hairs but i could still see those white specks.

trying to get the washing process right before i invest any more $$$ on expensive brushes! thanks in advance for your help!

[Melissa]

I dont think u have to worry abt anything dear. I have that with all my white goat haired brushes. What I always do is once they have been drying for lets say couple of hours or even longer I swipe the tips over a paper towel and the tips just fluff out. I do that couple of times until they're completely dry.

Maybe it depends on the water "residue"?? But it definitely not damaging yr brushes!

[Carlyn]

I've never had that happen to me before but I have soft water. Maybe the water in your area is hard, meaning it has a lighter concentration of minerals. Just guessing.

[sin]

Sounds like hard water to me too, esp. because it happens with any cleanser your are using.
If you don't have the option to install a water filter/softenener you have some other options:

- boil the water or use store bought water
- use more of the cleanser. the cleaning power of surfactants is reduced in hard water, so you'll need a stronger solution than in soft water.
- use boiled or store bought water and make a normal solution with your cleanser of choice in a cup or something similar. swish or soak the brush head in the solution.
- make a final rinse with destilled water or an acid rinse (e. g. with vinegar or lemon)

You might want to consider buying a shampoo or cleaner with other (stronger) surfactants.
I have found that cleansing oils like your Kose CO are not really effective at cleaning brushes.
Savon de Marseille and Dr. Bronner's are both soaps, so they might be responsible for leaving soap scum on your brushes. The BB cleansing liquid is made with quite mild surfactants, the same with most baby shampoos, so changing the shampoo might help if everything else fails.

[shinmina]

thanks for all the suggestions!

@sin, does the hard water theory still hold up if i only noticed the residue on my natural hair brushes? i never noticed this problem on my synthetics (everyday minerals, elf, real techniques)

i will try out different suggestions next time i wash my brushes and update everyone here! thank you