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How To Clean Foundation Brush: Complete Guide!

How To Clean Foundation Brush: Complete Guide!

We live in an era where almost every woman wears makeup on a daily basis (I am not an exception).

Therefore, the market is overloaded with makeup products which make it difficult for you to choose the right for you. Speaking of makeup let’s take a look at a popular makeup tool: foundation brushes.

Depending on your purpose finding a good foundation brush is not as easy as it seams. However, it is not hard as well, especially if you have me by your side. I will teach you ALL I know about brushes.

It seems so confusing at the beginning but you don’t need to worry about that. You are in the right place to find useful info about foundation brushes that includes best cleaning tips for your brush.

How do you clean a liquid foundation brush?

The most known and least expensive cleaning way of your foundation brush includes only hot water and brush cleaner or gentle soap (daily soap that contains formulas which can dry brush fibers).

Easy, isn’t it?

Now let’s take a look of these useful tips that can clean your foundation brush step by step and make it look as good as new:

  1. Use tap water to wet the bristles
  2. Pour some soap or makeup brush cleaner into your hand
  3. Rub gently the tips of the bristles against your hand
  4. Rinse the bristles with tepid water
  5. Gently squeeze out the extra moisture with a smooth
  6. Shape the head of your brush again
  7. Lay down the brush horizontally and let it dry completely
  8. Avoid putting your brush on the towel because the bristles will not be dried properly

If you follow these steps you will be amazed by the cleaning results on your liquid foundation brush. And for sure this will become your favorite cleaning way of your brushes.

How often do you have to clean your foundation brush?

One of the most important things when it comes to foundation brushes is their maintenance.

Cleaning your foundation brush must be your number one priority if you like to avoid skin irritation, bacteria or some other skin conditions. Remember that you are using your brushes on the face, so the cleaner brush is better for you.

Keeping your brushes clean is not so hard; you just need to do it once a week if you are using them around your eyes and twice a month for all other brushes.

There a lot of ways to clean your foundation brushes, some of them you can find it below.

How do you kill bacteria on makeup brushes?

Just like all other beauty products, brushes are also exposed to impurities that include bacteria.

If you like to avoid that unpleasant issue you must think about disinfecting your makeup brushes. It is not a hard process it can even be made at home.

Here are some homemade brush cleaners which can find a good purpose for you:

Water & vinegar

The vinegar is known as a good disinfectant, also can help you to eliminate bacteria from your brushes.

Preparation of this recipe is easier than you think. Use a small plate where you can mix two parts of lukewarm water to one part vinegar.

After that, you can put your brushes into the mixture and wait 30-60 seconds before removing them and rinsing them with taped water.

When you are done you can leave the brushes to dry. In case your brushes have a strong smell of vinegar, use some detergent in the mixture to avoid the strong smell.

Dish soap & olive oil

Dish soap can disinfect your brushes and kill bacteria on them, while olive oil revitalizes the brush fibbers after they are disinfected.

To prepare just pour little bit dish soap into a small plate and after that add one spoon of olive oil in ratio 2:1. Put the brush into the plate and start doing circular motions in the mixture.

After that gently wipe your brush with the hand just to remove build-up makeup and leave it on a paper towel to dry. In this process, you must avoid using hot water because can ruin your whole brush.

Rubbing alcohol

We all know that alcohol is good cleaner and disinfectant. And because of that, this recipe will be easy and simple to make. Pour rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle.

Lay down your bushes on a paper towel and spray them until they become fully wet and saturated. After that, you need to rub sprayed brushes against the paper towel with making circular moves until you clean all makeup on them.

Repeat the procedure until brushes bristles become totally clean. Squeeze out the alcohol completely from the bristles with a paper towel and reshape the brush head before leave them drying on the new paper.

Cleaning foundation brush

How do you clean a foundation brush?

Most people are using good quality makeup brushes and that means they spent a lot of money on them.

In that case, you need to think about the maintenance of your cosmetics condition. There are a lot of cleaners for your makeup brush but you need to be careful about what you are using when you clean your foundation brush in order to prevent damage to the bristles. Here are some safe solutions you can use to clean your foundation brush:

Bar soap

Rubbing your dirty foundation brushes against a bar of soap will clean your brush deep into the fibers.

Rinse your brush with tepid water and gently wipe against a paper towel. Be careful with the brush barrel because if get wet, it will loosen the fibers and they will start to fall out.

Liquid dish soap and a clean sponge

Just pour dish soap on the sponge and then gently rub your brush against sponge surface. After that rinse using tepid water and wipe your brush against a towel to clean any leftover dirt and left your brush to dry.

Olive oil

This is a great way to clean your brushes and their bristles. You just need to put your brushes in the oil. After that just rub those against the sponge and you will see how all remained dirt from the used product will fall off your brush.

How do you remove stubborn foundation from a brush?

Sometimes cleaning your brushes is not that simple, especially when they have a stubborn foundation.

It makes the bristles of your brush to look oily or rough and doesn’t come out with standard brush cleaning. This can be really stressful but here is the most useful solution for your problem.

Use ISO propane alcohol known as (IPA) with 99% alcohol.

You need to pay attention while using to avoid skin and eyes contact. The cleaning process is very simple, prepare one paper napkin or kitchen paper and pour some IPA into the little glass.

Then just put your brush bristles dip into the glass with alcohol but be careful not to past trough brush metal otherwise the glue will break down and bristles will start falling down.

Оnce the brush bristles are wet just wipe brush onto the paper napkin or kitchen paper and right after that, you will see how alcohol will break down any of that stubborn foundation stuck between your brush bristles.

Repeat the wipe process once again in case there are some stubborn left. See, it’s super easy and doesn’t waste much time and money and is strongly recommended to users.

How to disinfect your foundation brush?

You may be wondering: How frequently do I need to clean & disinfect a foundation brush?

Experts recommend that you clean and sterilize your makeup brushes at least once per week. Also, spot clean & disinfect on a daily basis before using in order to prevent bacteria development and possible damage.

However, it depends on your foundation brush’s hair quality & construction how often you can clean & disinfect it. For example, natural brushes are designed with animal hair. Meaning, they have hair cuticles that may absorb and lock bacteria, dust, and dirt. Also, they are a bit more difficult to clean & disinfect.

Basically, you should treat a natural foundation brush as you treat your own hair. Synthetic brushes, on the other hand, are designed of Taklon or some other fake fibers. They do not have natural hair cuticle, meaning, they are not that prone to attracting bacteria, dust & dirt like the natural foundation brushes.

Also, most synthetic brushes are hypoallergenic and vegan.

And you do not have to try hard to clean or disinfect them. They are easier to maintain than natural brushes. Now, let’s learn how to clean, sterilize and maintain foundation brush with household items.

Apple cider vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is known to kill bacteria in makeup brushes. So, mix a tablespoon of white vinegar and a half-teaspoon of liquid dishwashing solution and a cup of lukewarm water. Leave your foundation brush along with your other makeup brushes to soak and gently rinse them with cold water afterward.

Hydrogen peroxide

Another great way to clean makeup brushes is with hydrogen peroxide. Just mix a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide with a few drops of baby shampoo in a bowl of warm water. Let your makeup brushes soak for about 10 min before you rinse with cold water. Let your brushes dry for a few hours before using them.

Coconut oil

Did you know that coconut oil is very effective when it comes to breaking down dirt & grime on natural makeup brushes? And it acts as an anti-bacterial agent thanks to the anti-bacterial properties it contains according to my research. Mix a tablespoon of coconut oil with a few drops of baby shampoo in a water bowl and cover your brush with the paste. Rinse with warm water in order to get all the coconut oil out.

If you wonder how to clean and sanitize your natural or synthetic brushes on a daily basis before using them, I suggest that you rub them with alcohol. It is the best way to disinfect & maintains your brushes.

How often should you change your foundation brush?

As you already know, the key to the life of your makeup product is good care and decent hygiene.

That means if you like your foundation brush to lasts more, you need to pay attention to its cleaning and maintenance. Changing your current foundation brush depends on how often you clean and maintain it.

And of course the quality of your product.

Usually recommended changing of your foundation brush is 1 to 3 years but as I said before, you can’t accurately determine your foundation brush lifespan because It depends on many factors.

To know precisely when your foundation brush needs to be replaced, pay attention to the softness of the brush fibbers, their saturation with foundation debris and purity of the brush itself.

If all these specifications begin to decline, it’s time to buy a new foundation brush.

Extra tips on how to take clean your foundation brush

Avoid soaking foundation brushes with wooden handles in order to protect the wood. Also, cleaning your brush is not the only thing you need to pay attention to. Have you ever considered cleaning and disinfecting your makeup bag? I do it all the time. What’s the point in cleaning brushes if you were to put them back in a dirty makeup bag?

Final words

If you like your foundation brushes to lasts longer you need to maintain them, take care of them and clean them often. This is important because if you pay attention to cleaning your makeup goods you will have health benefits also.

That means that you will avoid many complications and unpleasant health issues like skin irritations, bacteria, inflammation and etc. I hope these useful pieces of information will help you to take care of your makeup goods and your beauty. Remember, stay clean and be healthy.