Archived Post

What do you use to wash your makeup brushes?


What do you use to wash your makeup brushes? Share!

Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap (unscented, mild formula) mixed with a lot of water (to dilute).

Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.

80 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
Emm Avatar

Same here. It’s gentle which I love. Though I prefer the liquid beauty blender cleaner for my beauty blender since J&J doesn’t seem to cut it.

Dusty Avatar

Duuuude! Same here! 🙂 It’s the best! It just kind of goes POOF and all the makeup is gone! I love that stuff. Use unscented too because the scented ones can leave an oily residue.

kjh Avatar

Japonesque in a little pink plastic spray bottle. Whenever a customer buys one @ night job, i’m reminded to do it. Face brushes today! Previously i used baby shampoo, so cannot really compare/contrast w/ others like Parian Spirit. Does the trick, does not seem to leave a lot of residue, dries quickly. Brushes keep shape better than full wet wash. Can’t complain, as I got a big bottle @ Ulta, 50% off.

Sunny Avatar

My new favorite is the Beauty Blender Solid Cleanser! Especially if you use a beauty blender or anything similar (if you haven’t tried, I would strongly urge you to. That was one of my best discoveries in 2014), that baby just gets it clean so much more easily than anything else! I don’t think I’ll be able to clean mine without it ever again.

Desiree Avatar

Equal parts Ivory dish soap and olive oil work well. Squirt/pour each in a plate, swirl the damp brush in the soap/oil, work in the bristles with fingers, and rinse well with water. It’s the Michelle Phan method.

Melissa Avatar

Do you just dilute the soap in a cup and put your brushes into the mixture and then rinse? I’d love a step by step. Right now I use the beauty blender solid cleanser, but before that I was using a combo of baby shampoo, dish soap, and olive oil and I would swirl in all three and then use my hand to rinse.

Christine Avatar

If it’s a bigger brush, I’ll get it wet with water first, because otherwise it’ll soak up all of the soap/water mix. I dip the brushes (but trying to keep the ferrule out of it) into the soap/water mix, then I run the brush back and forth across the palm of my hand for about 10-15 seconds (longer for bigger brushes, especially foundation), and then repeat with water running (to rinse)!

Grace Avatar

I do that exact same!!! And I use Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap as well. I use the one with almond oil… to me it seems to help keep the brushes soft, as I’ve noticed before when I used other soaps it made some of my brush scratchy 🙁

Nichole Avatar

I use Dr. Bonner’s castile soap too, only the baby version. I use about 40/60 soap and water. I’ve tried various DIY (shampoo to baby wash), but I like this because it rinses away much faster.

Ellen Avatar

Paula’s Choice shampoo, its fragrance free, gentle, comparatively inexpensive because it comes in a large container and can be purchased on sale, and I’ve been using it on my kids sinsce they were infants!! Gentle and effective!!

patsyann Avatar

For brushes used with powder products I make a mild solution of baby shampoo and warm water and swirl the bristles about in it. For heavily used brushes I might step it up a notch and substitute Philosophy’s Simple soap for the baby shampoo. For brushes used with cream or liquid products, I put a dab of baby shampoo in the palm of my hand, add a drop of DHC deep cleansing oil and I swirl the bristles in this and rinse really well in warm water. Squeeze in a towel and hang them all to dry upside down.

Eileen Avatar

Dr. Bonners! Over the years, I’ve used the unscented, peppermint, and almond. My favorite for brushes is the “18-in-1 Hemp Almond” because it leaves them clean and conditioned. If you’re diluting the soap with plenty of water as you’re supposed to do, there is no oily buildup on the brushes. I clean my brushes after one or two uses and so a light, but thorough, cleaning is all that is needed. A friend of mine only cleans her brushes when she feels like it (lol) and she prefers the peppermint because she thinks it is stronger.

Dusty Avatar

Have you ever used the Dr. Bronners liquid? That artists soap is what I used since high school and it works better than any brush cleaner I’d ever found… until I tried Dr. Bronners. I still have the hand soap but I usually only use it for things like gel liner in brushes because it does a decent job (they still get a second wash in the Bronners tho, just to get all the product out).

Samantha Avatar

I use MAC Brush Cleanser for cleaning my brushes if they have not been cleaned in a little while, but I have started to clean them everyday after use with the ULTA Professional Brush & Sponge Cleaner (that I got on sale for $.88 a bottle). New Year’s Resolution, I suppose.

Tarah Avatar

I actually used sunlight dish soap from a foam dispenser , I put the dish soap in . I put my makeup on in our kitchen lol , so that soap happened to be handy at the time .
We also have bath and body works foam soap in vanilla bean that I’ve used but I will use whatever . I don’t have very expensive brushes so I don’t care too much . They have lasted me already for a couple years and work just fine .

Josie Avatar

For spot cleaning I either use the MAC brush cleaner or the Make Up For Ever one. For deep cleansing I usually use lavender scented baby shampoo. I heard some people say that the Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap is excellent. So I went out and bought it, in the lavender scented. I used it a couple of days ago and really liked it. But I didn’t realize that it should be diluted. I guess I’ll be doing that the next deep cleanse. I did notice that I needed to use less of the Dr. B’s than the baby shampoo. Plus you get so much more.

starfish628 Avatar

Right now its the Dr Bronner Peppermint. I have used that on and off for years. Occasionally I will condition them with a couple drops of whatever hair oil I am using mixed with the soap. And to dry them Benjabell brush tree of course.

TwirlyGirly Avatar

I use only synthetic brushes to apply liquid/cream products, and natural hair brushes for powders. The synthetic brushes I clean after every use with 91% isopropyl alcohol, as it is the ONLY product I’ve found that removes every bit of residue from the brush (it’s also the cheapest brush cleaner). If you think the brush cleaner you’ve been using really gets your synthetic brushes clean, take one and swirl it around in a cup with about an inch or so of 91% isopropyl alcohol – you might be surprised at how much product is still trapped inside the brush even after cleaning with your favorite brush cleaner! However, you cannot use it on natural hair brushes (which is why I don’t use those to apply liquid/cream products). Natural hair brushes I swipe back and forth on a clean hand towel after every use, and once a week or so clean them with some baby shampoo.

Lena Avatar

The Masters brush cleaner from Michaels craft store is the best i have used. comes in a small size or large tub. Gets all brushes clean.

MzCrafty1908 Avatar

I use my facial cleansing oil for my foundation brushes first, then use Dawn anti bacterial to disinfection them and the rest of my brushes.

Donna Avatar

I also use Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap with a lot of water, but I use the Rose scent. It does a wonderful job, I think even better than the cleaners made especially for makeup brushes. I believe I got the idea to use this from you 🙂

Jintana Avatar

I’ve used both the master’s soap and Dr. Bronners. Does anyone here use Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation. That is the worst thing to get out and it never really gets off. Any suggestions?

C_Justine Avatar

I just use a plain and simple bottle of babyshampoo. But lately I have been noticing that sometimes the shampoo gets “stuck” in mijn brushes, you know what I mean? Anyway I have to rinse them hard with water afterwards!

I used to be so lazy to do this, but now I wash my brushes once a week / two weeks. Yay!

Tiffany Kelly Avatar

I am in love with the Dawn with oil of Olay in it! (The pink one) it gets my beauty blender clean really quick and my brushes smell great and are super soft

Brenda Avatar

I have also found the Dr.Bronner’s to be the best cleaner for my brushes. I have the lavender bar formula right now and it works so well to get even stubborn foundation out of my dense brushes.

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!