How to Wash Makeup Brushes at Home

Most of the damage to a brush happens at the sink, not on the face. Hot water and long soaks loosen the glue that holds the bristles in the ferrule, and drying a brush upright lets water run down into it.

Skipping the wash costs you too. Every pass with an unwashed brush puts old product back on your face, along with whatever oil and bacteria came with it. In a 2025 survey of 370 participants that accompanied a study of brush contamination in Jeddah, 44.3% said they rarely clean their brushes and sponges (Attar and Imam, International Journal of Microbiology, 2025).

The wash is the easy part. Rinse the bristle tips under lukewarm water, lather a mild shampoo or brush cleanser, rinse until the water runs clear, then squeeze and dry the brush flat.

Step-by-Step Method for Washing Makeup Brushes

Only the bristle tips get wet, and the brush ends up lying flat. Everything in between goes like this.

1. Hold the brush bristles-down at about a 45 degree angle and rinse the tips under lukewarm running water.
2. Put a drop of mild cleanser in your palm, or stir a tablespoon of gentle shampoo into a bowl of lukewarm water.
3. Swirl the bristle tips through the lather in small circles, then work up toward the middle of the head.
4. Rinse under running water, moving your fingers through the bristles to release the soap.
5. Repeat the lather and rinse until the water runs clear.
6. Squeeze the head in a clean towel or paper towel. Don’t twist or pull.
7. Reshape the head with your fingers and set the brush down to dry.

These steps merge the AAD, Cleveland Clinic and e.l.f. routines. All three agree on the order and differ mainly on water temperature and cleanser.

Water temperature and bristle direction

The sources don’t agree on temperature. AAD says lukewarm for both the rinse and the shampoo bowl, and Dr Alexis Granite, a consultant dermatologist, says the same to Marie Claire UK. Cleveland Clinic just says warm. e.l.f. is the strictest and sets the rule at lukewarm only, never hot, because hot water weakens the glue that holds bristles to the handle.

Then there’s Pamela Marshall, a clinical aesthetician, who told Marie Claire UK she washes her own brushes in hot water with baby shampoo.

I’d stay with lukewarm. e.l.f. and MasterClass both warn that hot water damages the glue holding the bristles, and Marshall’s habit looks like the outlier.

Angle matters about as much as temperature. Pointing the bristles down keeps water out of the ferrule, the metal band where the glue sits. AAD says to rinse only the tip, since submerging the whole head will eventually dissolve that glue.

Lathering and rinsing tools

Your palm is the default in the Cleveland Clinic routine and works in AAD’s too. Sigma Beauty’s brush guide likes a textured silicone mat or glove for swirling bristles, and AAD also describes a bowl of lukewarm water with shampoo stirred in.

Dense foundation and buffing brushes need fingers worked through the bristles so water reaches the center. Eyeshadow and detail brushes get a gentle stream and no pressure, according to e.l.f.

Same method, lighter hands on small brushes.

Which Cleaner Works Best on Makeup Brushes?

Baby shampoo or a dedicated brush cleanser handles most brushes, and dish soap is the stronger pick for heavy cream and liquid product.

AAD recommends a gentle or clarifying shampoo and warns that plain soap and water can dry out the bristles. Cleveland Clinic’s dermatologist names baby shampoo or dish soap instead.

For most brushes, baby shampoo does the job and costs less than a dedicated product.

Dish soap and oil for heavy buildup

MasterClass calls olive oil with dish soap the quickest and most effective between-use cleaner, mixed at two parts dish soap to one part oil.

Dampen the bristle tips in the mix, build a light lather in your palm, then rinse with lukewarm water until clear. MasterClass warns against rubbing so hard that the oil reaches the bristle roots.

When a brush stays stained after two lathers, move to a full deep clean for brushes loaded with cream product.

Dedicated brush cleansers

Liquid cleanser is the thorough deep clean, lathered in the palm (e.l.f.). Solid cleanser is less messy and easier to control, since you swirl the brush directly onto the soap. A daily spray gives a quick refresh between uses, but it won’t replace a deep clean.

Real Techniques’ directions for its Brush + Sponge Cleansing Gel say to wet the brush, work the gel into a lather and use it weekly. The brand markets the gel as free of alcohol and phthalates, and warns against soaking the base of the bristles.

A dedicated cleanser is convenient, not required.

How to Dry Makeup Brushes Without Damaging the Glue

Squeeze out the water, reshape the head, then dry the brush flat with the bristles hanging past the counter edge, or on a rack with the bristles pointing down.

Squeezing, reshaping and positioning

Squeeze each brush in a clean towel, one at a time, and roll larger brushes to pull out moisture (MasterClass, e.l.f.). Smooth stray bristles back into the original head shape by hand. Then lay the brushes flat on a towel with the heads over the counter edge, or hang them bristles-down on a rack at about 45 degrees. A ventilated spot near a window or doorway helps.

Don’t stand brushes upright in a cup, since water runs down into the glue (AAD). Keep them out of direct sunlight too, which can bleach and warp brushes (MasterClass). And skip closed containers while the brushes are damp, because e.l.f. says those lengthen drying and can grow mold.

The rack matters less than the angle. Anything that keeps water running away from the ferrule protects the glue.

How long drying takes

e.l.f. puts drying windows anywhere from 4 to 24 hours, depending on brush size and density.

• Small eye brushes: 4 to 6 hours
• Medium face brushes: 6 to 8 hours
• Dense foundation brushes: 8 to 12 hours
• Large powder brushes: 12 to 24 hours

MasterClass gives a faster range of 2 to 12 hours or more, with thin fan brushes at 2 to 3 hours and dense kabuki brushes at 12 or longer.

Plan around the slower figures. A small eye brush washed in the evening is usually ready by morning, but a big powder brush may need a full day.

If a deadline is the problem, look at faster ways to dry brushes. You’ll know a brush is dry when it feels light and fluffy and has no cool spot or musty smell (e.l.f.).

How Often Should You Wash Makeup Brushes?

It depends on what the brush touches. Brushes that carry wet or cream product need washing most often, and dry powder brushes least.

The sources split most on powder and blush brushes, where AAD’s blanket schedule is far shorter than Cleveland Clinic’s monthly interval. Cleveland Clinic ties the interval to what a brush picks up, and AAD gives one schedule to cover every brush.

If your skin breaks out easily, use AAD’s shorter interval for every brush. Stable skin can follow the Cleveland Clinic split.

Signs a brush needs washing sooner

Visible product buildup between the head and the base is the obvious sign (MasterClass). New breakouts or irritation are another, and MasterClass advises washing more often when they show up. Very red eyes, eye drainage or eye pain after using eye brushes is a different case, since Cleveland Clinic says that’s a reason to call a doctor.

Sponges and blenders

Sponges are a separate problem, and the numbers show why. Aston University researchers found beauty blenders averaged more than 1,000,000 CFU per ml, while used lipstick, lip gloss, eyeliner and mascara carried 100 to 1,000 CFU per ml (Bashir, 2019).

Cleveland Clinic also flags sponges for extra attention because they hold moisture, which feeds bacteria and yeast. Sponges get a separate routine for cleaning makeup sponges, not the brush method above.

Natural vs Synthetic Bristles: What Changes in the Wash

Natural hair brushes take a mild, sulphate-free shampoo and gentle handling. Synthetic brushes tolerate sturdier cleaners, and a brush with mixed fibers follows the natural-hair rules.

Dermascope, a professional skin care magazine, calls natural bristles porous and in need of conditioning. Woman & Home’s experts say mixed-fiber brushes get the natural-hair treatment.

Where advice on synthetic brushes splits

Dermascope says oils sit on the surface of synthetic fibers, so a dish liquid that cuts grease fits. Hayley Walker of Justmylook sees it differently and calls dish soap too harsh for a tool that touches the face. She prefers gentle antibacterial soap or a sulphate-free shampoo.

The gentler option costs little and leaves nothing harsh on skin. Save the grease-cutter for stubborn foundation.

Wash timing for natural hair

Beautylish’s 2016 natural-brush guide says washing too often can damage delicate bristles, and it recommends a deep clean every 1 to 2 months.

That is far longer than AAD’s blanket interval for all brushes, and the guide is a decade old.

Hygiene wins for any natural brush that touches the eyes or broken skin. Protect the bristles with a gentler cleanser, not a longer gap.

Disinfecting and Spot Cleaning Between Washes

Washing removes buildup, spot cleaning clears color between washes, and alcohol lowers germs on a brush that is already clean, which suits synthetic bristles better than natural ones.

Spot cleaning with a cleansing spray

A spray fixes a color mix-up in seconds. Spray the bristles until damp, wipe back and forth in your palm or on a silicone mat without bending the hairs, then lay the brush out to dry.

Those steps come from Sara Wren, Director of Artistry at Milk Makeup, who sets sprayed brushes upright in a cup to dry. That contradicts AAD’s warning against upright drying, and the gap likely comes down to water volume, since a sprayed brush is damp while a washed brush is wet.

Napoleon Perdis sells an isopropyl alcohol spray, Instant Clean Brush Cleaner, with directions to spray a tissue, wipe the brush and wait one minute before use.

Disinfecting with isopropyl alcohol

The CDC’s 2008 disinfection guideline puts the optimum bactericidal concentration for alcohol at 60% to 90%, with activity dropping sharply below 50%.

Advice on natural hair is the messiest. The brush maker tmakeupbrushes advises against alcohol because it damages the hair cuticle, yet the Napoleon Perdis spray, which is isopropyl alcohol, is sold for disinfecting brush hair with no synthetic-only limit in its directions. For synthetic hair, tmakeupbrushes calls alcohol a fit, while Hayley Walker says rubbing alcohol dries out synthetic bristles too.

Handle finish matters as well. MasterClass warns alcohol can peel paint from handles, so spray only the bristles.

The CDC figures come from a healthcare guideline, not from tests on makeup brushes, and none of the sources retrieved give a contact time for brushes. Treat alcohol as a between-wash step, and as tmakeupbrushes puts it, an emergency measure.

Brushes are one part of the kit, and the powders and palettes they dip into need their own approach to sanitizing makeup.

When Washing Goes Wrong: Soaking, Heat and Other Damage

Most brush damage traces back to soaking the whole head, drying with heat, leaving cleanser in the bristles, or washing too often with a harsh cleaner.

Soaking, and where the sources split

A Vital Proteins brush guide says to soak in very warm water for at least 15 minutes. Nearly everyone else disagrees. Milk Makeup’s Sara Wren says soapy soaking breaks down the glue and brushes shed, Real Techniques says not to soak the base of the bristles, and Woman & Home says wetting the whole brush can peel paint and loosen glue.

With AAD’s tip-only rinse, that makes four sources against one. The pro-soak guide also calls for very warm water, which the lukewarm-only sources tie to glue damage.

Heat and hair dryers

Heat saves hours but costs you glue.

Woman & Home’s experts warn that a hair dryer can melt the glue holding the bristles and, on synthetic brushes, the fibers themselves. MasterClass says heat warps the head, and e.l.f. tells readers never to use heat tools.

One brush maker, tmakeupbrushes, allows occasional low-heat drying: hold the brush upside down, blow from handle to tip, and pause to reshape and cool. Against three sources, the safer call is to plan the wash around the drying time instead.

Residue and over-washing

Woman & Home’s experts warn that some brush cleansers irritate skin when residue stays in the bristles. On over-washing, Walker advises against daily washes with face cleanser because it can dry the hairs, and Wren limits dish soap deep cleans to occasional use.

Shedding and a splayed head are the visible results when these habits pile up.

What Dirty Makeup Brushes Do to Skin

A dirty brush carries skin bacteria and oil back onto the face along with old product. The documented risks run from breakouts and rashes to, less often, bacterial or eye infections.

Risks named by dermatologists

AAD lists acne breakouts and rashes, along with infections such as fungal, E. coli or staph. Cleveland Clinic points to bacterial infection when old product builds up and a cut lets bacteria in, and to eye infections such as pink eye.

Cleveland Clinic also notes that brushes kept in a cup on a bathroom counter pick up dust and airborne bacteria, so storage habits for makeup brushes deserve a look too.

What testing found

A 2025 peer-reviewed study in the International Journal of Microbiology (Attar and Imam) sampled 57 brushes and beauty blenders from Jeddah users, and Micrococcus (31%) and Staphylococcus (23%) dominated the isolated strains, including Staphylococcus aureus.

The same paper surveyed 370 people and found no statistically significant link between cleaning frequency and self-reported skin problems (p = 0.698). The authors point to storage, sharing and infrequent disinfection as other possible factors.

Meghan May of the University of New England, who tested unwashed brushes for a 2017 news segment, noted that staphylococcus also lives harmlessly on skin.

Aventus Clinic’s own swab test reported 928 combined colony-forming units on an eyeshadow brush, 85.5 on a foundation brush and 3 on a toilet seat.

That ranking, with eyeshadow dirtiest and foundation cleanest, does not follow the wet-product-first logic of Cleveland Clinic’s schedule. Aventus Clinic does not report how recently each brush was washed, so its test cannot settle the schedule question.

How strong the evidence is

Read together, the sources support washing on a schedule because contamination shows up in every test. None of them proves a specific infection rate, and the toilet seat comparison says little about how often to wash.

Common Questions About Washing Makeup Brushes

Can you wash makeup brushes with face cleanser or micellar water?

Yes, with limits. Hayley Walker of Justmylook says a gentle, sulphate-free face cleanser works but not daily, because it can dry the hairs.

Micellar water suits quick spot cleaning, though Woman & Home notes it is less thorough than a wash under running water. ISOCLEAN’s Benjamin Moffat calls it a short-term solution when no dedicated brush cleanser is on hand.

Where should makeup brushes be stored after washing?

Wait until they are completely dry, then put them in a clean holder or canister. Cleveland Clinic warns that brushes left in a cup on a bathroom counter pick up dust and airborne bacteria.

MasterClass adds that tossing brushes loose into a drawer with other tools speeds up shedding.

Is it safe to share makeup brushes?

No. AAD says never to share makeup brushes, and to wash your own often.

Attar and Imam (2025) note that each person’s skin microflora is unique and transfers to others through shared applicators.

Can you use a makeup brush while it is still damp?

No. MasterClass says damp brushes become a breeding ground for bacteria and odors, and e.l.f. says to wait until the bristles feel light and fluffy with no cool spot.

Attar and Imam add that brushes not dried enough after washing can harbor bacteria.

When a Makeup Brush Should Be Replaced

Replace a brush once it starts shedding bristles or loses its shape, because washing cannot repair loosened glue or a splayed head. Cleveland Clinic also names fraying and wear, while Tom’s Guide names falling bristles and a misshapen head.

Eye brushes go first, then foundation and concealer brushes, with powder and blush brushes last. Cleveland Clinic says eyes are more prone to infection, and Aventus Clinic’s swab test found an eyeshadow brush carried the highest load of any item tested. Neither source ranks replacement order, so the sequence combines the two.

Replacing a brush costs money that one more wash would save, and a lost shape does not come back.

As of October 2026, none of the sources cited here sets a replacement age, so condition decides, not the calendar.

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Andreea Sandu

Andreea Sandu is a working makeup artist based in Bucharest. She's been doing makeup professionally since 2010, across bridal, editorial, film, commercial work, and runs Lipstick Queen.

She started writing on the site after fielding the same questions from clients and friends often enough to just write the answers down: which red won't turn orange on a warm undertone, how to keep lipstick from feathering into fine lines, why a "12-hour" formula rarely survives dinner.

Every review on the site follows the same rule she uses with paying clients: wear it first, then decide if it's worth recommending.

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