If I may ride off of my previous post, another item of household hintery has been on my mind lately. I realized that I never wash my hairbrushes. And I remember growing up, that on the occasional Saturday, maybe once a month, my mom would send us out to collect all the brushes and combs in the house. We'd clean out the hair, and then she'd soak them in the sink with ammonia and hot water, hence stinking up the bathroom. Where did I go astray? My mom taught me by good example! Once I realized my error of omission, I decided to wash my brushes. It seems though, that there are less stinky ways to do this than with ammonia. Some sources recommend using clarifying shampoo or even dish soap. You can also use an old toothbrush for some serious cleaning. If you want to be thorough you can do two steps--a cleansing step with shampoo or soap, and then a sterilizing step with equal parts vinegar and water or if the stink doesn't bother you, 1/4 cup ammonia to 1 cup water. Another option is to use tea tree oil, which has sanitizing properties.
Note: in all the soaking, sources recommend not to soak too long (over half an hour) or you could damage the brush.
So. Have you cleaned your brushes lately?
