By The Striking Viking Editorial Team. Published 11.11.2026. Last updated 11.11.2026.
To clean a hairbrush or comb, pull out the trapped hair, wash the bristles or teeth in warm water with a few drops of gentle shampoo, scrub with an old toothbrush, rinse, and leave it to dry bristles down. The one thing that changes from tool to tool is the soak. Wood and rubber stay out of it.
A brush fills up faster than you would guess. The average person loses 50 to 100 hairs a day, according to WebMD's guide to cleaning a hairbrush or comb (medically reviewed March 14, 2026), and the same page says oils, dead skin and hair products collect on the brush along with the hair. Healthline's hairbrush guide (medically reviewed September 23, 2019) adds that leave-in conditioners, gels and hairsprays stick to the bristles. If you use a sea salt spray or comb oil through your beard, your tools are picking all of that up.
Where we mention our own tools below, they are the Sandalwood Wooden Beard Comb and the Boar Bristle Beard Brush. Their materials are on the product pages, and the material is what decides how you clean them.
What do you need to clean a hairbrush?
A bowl of warm water or the bathroom sink, a gentle shampoo, an old toothbrush, scissors, and something pointed to lift hair out of the bristles. That is Healthline's kit, minus the optional baking soda, and a clean towel for drying is the only thing we would add. If you are not sure which tool in your drawer does which job, our piece on combs versus brushes sorts that out.
Can you soak a hairbrush or comb in water?
Sometimes. It depends on what the tool is made of. WebMD says brushes with wooden or rubber handles can't be left to soak, and Healthline says not to submerge a wooden brush entirely. A plastic brush is fine to go in whole. This table puts the two guides together, with our own tools slotted in where they fit.
| Tool | Can it soak? | How to wash it |
|---|---|---|
| Plastic comb or brush with no wood, rubber or padding | Yes, for 3 to 5 minutes | Put the whole tool in warm soapy water, scrub, rinse |
| Wooden comb, such as our Sandalwood Wooden Beard Comb | No | Dip an old toothbrush in soapy water, scrub the teeth lightly, rinse, dry |
| Brush with a wooden handle, such as our Boar Bristle Beard Brush (beech wood handle, boar bristles) | Bristles only | Dip the bristles in soapy water and keep the handle out of it |
| Brush with a rubber grip or soft padding at the base | Bristles only | Dip the bristles and keep the padding dry |
If you are unsure what a tool is made of, use the wooden method. It is the gentler one.
How to clean a hairbrush or comb, step by step
1. Pull the hair out first
Do this dry, before any water. Healthline suggests using the end of a rat tail comb, or any pointed object like a pen, to lift the hair out from the base of the bristles, and cutting away anything that is tangled in them. WebMD gives the same order: hair out, then wash. A comb used for a home trim, like the one in our beard trimming guide, picks up cut hair as well, so this step comes first.
2. Mix a gentle soap bath
Fill a bowl or the sink with warm water and add a few drops of gentle shampoo, then swish it until it suds. Healthline uses a few drops; WebMD uses about a teaspoon of non-medicated shampoo. Either works, and a small amount is plenty.
3. Soak plastic, dip everything else
A plastic brush can go in whole for 3 to 5 minutes, per Healthline. WebMD's sink soak runs closer to half an hour, so if a plastic tool is still grimy after the short one, go longer. For anything with wood, rubber or a padded base, dip the bristles only and keep the handle and padding out of the water.
4. Scrub with an old toothbrush
Dip the toothbrush in the soapy water and scrub each bristle, starting at the base and working up. On a comb, scrub between the teeth. If the tool was not very dirty, the dip alone may have done most of the work.
5. Rinse
Rinse the tool under a stream of cool water. Healthline gives a second option: sprinkle a little water on the base of the brush and wipe it dry with a cloth, which suits a brush with padding or a wooden handle.
6. Dry it bristles down
Leave the brush bristles down on a clean cloth or towel and let it air dry. A wooden comb gets the same treatment, laid flat. Our Sandalwood Wooden Beard Comb comes with a black carry case, so make sure the comb is fully dry before it goes back in.
Why shouldn't a wooden comb or brush soak?
Wood takes on moisture from its surroundings, and below a certain moisture level it swells as it gains water and shrinks as it loses it. The U.S. Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory says that movement can cause warping, checking and splitting, and gives loosening tool handles as one example. Its Wood Handbook chapter on moisture relations (2021 edition) also notes that contact with liquid water changes wood's moisture content much faster than humidity does. That is the reason for the dip-and-wipe approach above: the bristles and teeth get wet, and the wood barely does.
How often should you clean a hairbrush or comb?
Healthline's rule of thumb is once a week if you use styling creams, gels or hairspray, and every 2 to 3 weeks if you use little product, with hair pulled out of the bristles every couple of days. WebMD says to remove hair from a brush daily, rinse a comb quickly after each use, and clean a comb thoroughly every few weeks.
Neither gives a hard number, so here is our call for beard tools. If you work beard oil or balm through with a comb or brush every day, take the weekly schedule. Our guides to what beard oil does and how to use beard balm cover how to apply each one.
Hairbrush cleaning FAQ
How do you get the gray fuzz out of a hairbrush?
The fuzz is lint and shed hair, mixed with oils, dead skin and product, as WebMD describes it. Lift it out with a rat tail comb or a pointed tool, cut away anything wrapped around the bristles, then wash the brush.
Can you wash a wooden brush or comb with water?
Yes, with limits. Dip the bristles or scrub the teeth with a toothbrush wet with soapy water, rinse lightly, and dry it. Don't leave it submerged: WebMD and Healthline both warn against soaking wooden brushes, and the same logic applies to a wooden comb.
What shampoo should you use to clean a hairbrush?
A gentle one. Healthline calls for gentle shampoo and WebMD for non-medicated shampoo, so a mild everyday shampoo does the job.
How often should you clean a hairbrush?
Weekly if you use styling product, every 2 to 3 weeks if you use little (Healthline), with the hair pulled out every few days in between.
How do you dry a hairbrush after washing it?
Bristles down on a clean cloth or towel, then air dry. Healthline describes it that way, and WebMD says to leave the tool out to air dry.
The short version
Hair out first, gentle shampoo in warm water, soak only what has no wood, rubber or padding, scrub with a toothbrush, rinse, and dry bristles down. Wash weekly if you use product every day, and every 2 to 3 weeks if you don't.
Next step: if a tool is due for replacing, browse our combs and brushes.
Keep reading
- Long beard care: the routine that protects the ends
- Beard length chart: from stubble to very long
- All Striking Viking grooming guides
Filed under: Grooming guides
