A Monthly Routine

This simple five step process to maintain your brush in excellent shape for years to come.

Brushes get dirty, it’s a fact. From collecting hair to dandruff and plenty of other unspeakable things, they get dirty. Caring for one’s brush is vital to keeping it in great shape for a long time. As ZilberHaar brushes are not lacquered prolonged contact with water can also damage one’s brush.

So it’s important to keep the brush oiled as well as cleaned. To oil one’s brush the easiest way is to put a bit of beard oil on the brush after washing (and letting it dry properly) and then letting the oil penetrate the wood.

In addition to the video above, here’s a step by step guide to cleaning your ZilberHaar beard (or hair) brush.

First Step

1. Brush out the hairs and dirt

Using a brush cleaner, or a comb if you don’t have a cleaner. Brush out all the hairs and larger dirt that has accumulated in the bristles. The brush cleaner is made to get to the base of the bristles and scrape out anything that is lodged down there without breaking the bristles.

Second Step

2. Rinse out all loose dirt

Using running water (do not soak the brush in water) wash down all loose dirt such as dandruff that may have accumulated at the base of the bristles. Most of the loose dirt will get washed away under the running water.

Third Step

3. Wash the bristles with soap

Using a mild hand soap (or shampoo) wash the bristles thoroughly, it takes some work to get to the base of the bristles so use your fingers to dig in and ensure you are washing away any oils or other dirt that has gotten stuck in there. If needed use the beard cleaning tool to scrape off any dirt.

When done, thoroughly rinse the brush to remove the soap and dirt that has detached from the bristles.

Fourth Step

4. Wipe the brush and let it dry

When done, wipe the brush and let it dry. It is important that the brush is let to dry bristles down, this is because the bristled are attached to the wood using steel and by putting the brush bristles down you limit the risk of the steel corroding. Equally important is to ensure the brush dries at room temperature. Any heat applied can cause the wood to crack from too fast a change in humidity.

Final Step

5. When dry, oil the wood

Once the brush is dry (we recommend leaving it dry over night) it is a good idea to oil the wood and the bristles. You can use your beard oil or any food grade oil, if you want a great oil for the wood, one of the best oils is Linseed oil (aka Flax oil).

When you oil the wood, you can also oil the bristles and make sure oil gets to the roots of the bristles. In this case you can let the brush dry bristles up.