Full Disclosure. I’m terrible about cleaning my makeup brushes. I think they suggest you clean makeup brushes weekly. I probably don’t even do it monthly….but I do do it. Sometimes! Just keepin it real here!

I used to use my shampoo, and a few times I bought products specifically designed to clean makeup brushes, but now I use castile soap – yep, basic, inexpensive, sustainable castile soap!

Cleaning MakeUp Brushes

Is there a right way to spell makeup? Is the “u” capitalized? Are there two words? I’ve even seen it with a hyphen…I don’t think that’s it. Alas, thankfully spelling (or grammar with that hyphen) isn’t required to clean your dang brushes!

If you’re wondering why you should clean your brushes (weekly)…it’s because of all the gunk and oils (from your face) that collect on the brush. If you’re swiping, dabbing, and fanning your face everyday, that’s seven days of “stuff.”

Since few of us are cleaning them that often…well, it’s gross!

What is Castile Soap?

Castile soap is a vegetable-based soap (originally from the Castile region of Spain). The most well known brand (at least to me) is Dr. Bronner’s. There are just short of a million great things to tell you about the company, but you can read all about why their soap is good for you and good for the world here.

For my first bottle, I selected the unscented bottle, but they have ten scents. With such a huge bottle (the most common size I’ve seen at stores), I felt unscented was best.

They do sell the castile soap in 2, 4, 8, 16, and this 32 oz. sizes. I think I’ll try the scented versions in the smaller sizes or get it from my refill store!

How to Clean Brushes?

So this part is super fast and simple…Fill a bowl or glass with about 2″ of cold, room-temperature water. Put brushes in water, swish around to get water between bristles.

For most brushes, I clean them in my hand 2-3 at a time. The larger kabuki brush (that I use for setting powder), I do that one on its own.

In the palm of your hand, add a few drops of castile soap. Over the sink, rub bristles of brushes (1-3 depending on size) in the soap. Try to get soap all over bristles and then gently use fingers to disperse soap and release makeup.

For dirtier brushes, you can rinse with cool water and repeat process.

Rinse bristles and gently squeeze out excess water. Lay brushes on side to dry. I hang the bristles over the sink edge.

Let brushes dry completely. After a few hours, gently wipe brushes in palm of your hand.

And there you have it. That fast, easy, and sustainable way to clean makeup brushes!

How To Clean MakeUp Brushes

Active Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Learn how to clean makeup brushes to keep them free of bacteria and buildup!

Materials

gentle soap (like castile soap)
glass or small bowl
water

Tools

Dirty makeup Brushes

Instructions

Fill a bowl or glass with about 2″ of cold, room-temperature water. Put brushes in water, swish around to get water between bristles.
In the palm of your hand, add a few drops of castile soap. Over the sink, rub bristles of brushes (1-3 depending on size) in the soap. Try to get soap all over bristles and then gently use fingers to disperse soap and release makeup. *For dirtier brushes, you can rinse with cool water and repeat process.*
Rinse bristles and gently squeeze out excess water. Lay brushes on side to dry. I hang the bristles over the sink edge.
Let brushes dry completely. After a few hours, gently wipe brushes in palm of your hand to check that they're dry.

Clean Beauty & Sustainable Living

Since clean beauty is an important part of sustainable living (what we wash down the drain matters as much as what we put on our skin), be sure to check out these other clean beauty roundups:

Clean Beauty at Nordstrom
Clean Beauty at Sephora
Clean Beauty at Target
Clean Beauty at Walmart
Clean Beauty at ULTA

Common questions include do shampoo bars really work and how do you use them? What natural deodorant actually works? How do you even use a safety razor?!

You might also be interested in my clean beauty skincare routine as well as my clean beauty makeup product picks!