One of my favourite articles on natural(ish) hair care dates back to the early 1900s, and is written by Mlle. Aline Vallandri, a woman who is famous for the length and health of her hair. The article is accompanied by a rather shocking (to modern eyes, at least) photograph of her with her hair… which drags at her feet. When you see the photo, you can understand the fame:
I say natural-ish because, while turn of the century hair care embodied a lot of today’s natural hair care ideals (like infrequent washings and boar bristle brushes), it also advocated things like singeing (which is as bad of an idea as it sounds) and mercury tinctures. So, best not to follow all the advice in a 1905 ladies magazine.
Look at all that dust and schmag caught in my brush!
Anyhow, one of the most striking things in this article is the woman’s description of her brushing routine. It is positively laborious, though she writes it off as nothing (though mentioning her lady’s maid does most of the work). She writes:
Although I so strongly disapprove of washing the head with water, it is possible, as I have said, to keep the scalp and the hair quite clean by brushing it. To do this, perfectly clean brushes are absolutely necessary. My own brushes are washed every day. When once a brush has been used it is never allowed to touch my hair again until it has been thoroughly washed and dried. Doing this regularly becomes a matter of routine, and it takes scarcely any time at all, although I know only too well that when these things are done only occasionally they seem to take a great deal of time. Another reason for brushes taking so much time when they are only washed occasionally is that they are really dirty, and to clean dirty brushes must necessarily take longer than to wash those which have only been used once. If you think of it, it is no more nice to brush your hair with dirty brushes which have not been washed for two or three weeks than it is to dry your face with a towel which has not been washed for the same time.
Clearly washing brushes & combs was pretty serious business back then. But, once you’ve switched to natural hair care, along with a boar bristle brush and a wide toothed wooden comb, you’ll get it.
My comb after a month or two without being washed. Eeewwww.
I’ve always been good about washing my natural bristle brushes, and for good reason—it just makes sense. It’s a natural bristle, advocated for on the basis that it can absorb and re-distribute the oils your scalp produces. So, like my hair, natural bristle brushes need to be washed. This process is simple enough—I just wet the brush, swipe the bristles across a shampoo bar a couple times, and then work up a good lather against my palm. Rinse, dry, and done.
All clean!
My comb was a bit more… alarming? Ick. It snuck up on me. Tightly tined plastic combs don’t really get dirty beyond collecting a few hairs, so I wasn’t on the lookout for it with my wooden one. Then, one day, I noticed a substance sort of like toejam or bellybutton lint caked deep in the prongs of my comb—ew. It was just lint from pillowcases and clothing packed down with natural hair oils, but a few months of accumulation sure looked awful. To get this scum off, I use a thin, flat, and relatively sharp instrument—the tip of a vegetable peeler (the part designed for scooping out rotten bits of potatoes) works really nicely here.
GROSS.
Dear heavens, that’s disgusting. I don’t want that anywhere near my head!
Going in between the tines, you can scrape and scoop all this schmag off. Then, I finish up with a quick scrubbing using a short-bristled brush and a bit of a shampoo bar. Much better!
Much better!
So, there you have it. If you haven’t washed your brushes and combs recently, hop to it!
Nice and clean. Lovely.
Just curious – what are the benefits of using a wooden comb?
The #1 for me is no static—soooo nice, especially when you live somewhere as dry as I do. The others include the wood being able to help re-distribute oils (it is porous, after all, though not as porous as a natural bristle brush), stronger tines (I’ve snapped plastic combs before), no seams from the moulds to wear away at the hair, and, well, they aren’t plastic. I also find my wooden comb is just much nicer to use than a plastic comb, but that’s a pretty loosey-goosey thing, lol.
Lucky her to have such an impressive terminal length. I’m struggling with hair thinning and a therefore much reduced terminal length. 🙁 I would be near bald if I incorporated that much natural bristle brushing, I fear.
I know, right?! How unfair is that? I wonder what her diet was like… maybe it was all that gelatin salad that was popular in the early 1900s? Dietary gelatin is supposed to be good for… stuff… 😛 I don’t notice a lot of hair loss from my natural brushing, but I definitely don’t brush my hair for nearly an hour on a daily basis, either. Out of everything in that article, though, I’ll nominate the mercury scalp tincture for the most dangerous award. Yipes!
Hi Marie,
Thanks for this post, I find it most useful. I don’t always clean my brush and comb as much as I should.
The boar bristle brush seems to be helping my hair a great deal although, with my hair being thick even after having it thinned, it takes a lot of work (parting off small sections at a time and then brushing each section).
Thanks for the info, this is amazing!
Janelle
Yup… cleaning brushes & combs is one of many things I don’t do nearly as often as I should. I don’t think anybody these days could live up to Mlle. Aline Vallandri’s standards 😛 I definitely understand the BBB + thick hair thing—I have tons of hair, and giving my hair a good brushing usually requires an engrossing episode of television so I’ve got something to watch while I section and brush away for ages.
This makes so much sense! I feel really ashamed because I know my combs and brushes are about 100 times more gross than yours. I’m on it as soon as I get home. Thanks for posting this.
I totally get it, Deauna! And it is sooo easy to let it go for a while, and then look down and realize you could re-spackle your tub with the stuff that’s stuck in your comb, lol. If you’re anything like me, you’ll get a bit hooked on seeing all that dirty water come out of your brushes, and that’ll help you scrub ’em down more often 😛
I would like to know what bar soap you made? My Great Grand Mother had hair that long she was Indian
Most of my shampoos are based on my all purpose soap recipe, but you should also check out my shampoo recipes section 🙂 And your Grandmother’s hair sounds amazing! Do you have any photos you could share?
I have really curly hair (3b or 3c). Could I use a brush like yours?
Lucky you! My straight hair and I are envious. From what I’ve read (and my experiences with brushing my hair after having it in pin curls), using a boar bristle brush on curly hair results in quite a lot of pooooooofing. So, unless you’re using it directly before showering (or unless you like very big hair), it’s probably not the thing for you. All the same, I’d head over to the Long Hair Community and ask over there, since those people really know what they’re talking about! They’ve even got an entire section dedicated to curly hair, and I’m sure somebody there will have similar hair and some experiences to share with you 🙂
I’ve been doing water-only washing for over two years now, and relied heavily on my boar bristle brush for proper oil distribution. Unfortunately, the thing gets filthy so quickly and I rarely want to touch my hair with it. Haha! So I mainly keep my hair in a braid and only do intensive brushing right before I have to rinse my hair anyway. Sure wish I could find the motivation to wash the brush daily, ’cause I sure could benefit from most frequent brushing.
Fantastic blog, by the way. I’m hooked!
I admire your dedication to water only washing 🙂 I just love my lather too much, I guess. That and making shampoo bars is so fun 😛 How long did it take for your oil production to normalize? Maybe if you brush your hair in the bathroom that’ll motivate you to wash the brush more frequently? I, too, am a big fan of braids, mostly for the tangle prevention. Between sleeping and biking, it seems I have my hair in a braid more often than not these days. Thanks for reading! 😀
My hair’s oil production normalized between 2-3 months, but it’s taken me a little under two years to find the perfect haircare routine! Looots of experimenting. I’m happy to report that I’ve been cleaning my brush daily since I read this post, so thank you for the motivation! 😀
Hmmm… I shall keep that in mind for the next time I have nowhere to be for 2–3 months lol 😛 Or maybe just winter… I do have a very cute collection of toques, after all 😉
Where did you get your brush and comb? I have searched everywhere and can’t find anything I like. Yours look very nice though.
The comb is from The Body Shop, and it’s the best easily available wooden comb I’ve come across. I had one from Goody, but I snapped it in half combing my hair, lol. The boar bristle brush pictured here is by Goody—I just picked it up at Shopper’s Drug Mart. I also have some nice antique silver boar bristle brushes from my Grandma, and I can’t recommend those enough if you can find a good set on eBay or something 🙂 There’s just something oh-so romatic about brushing your hair with a silver brush with a matching hand mirror. Aaah.
I got my natural bristle brush at a good pet supply store! Hair care for critters seems to have stayed with the “distribute the natural oil, and wash less with detergents or soaps” than humans, and I found quite a variety (I also at the time had an employee discount! 😉 )
Ha, that’s awesome! 😛 I imagine you grabbed one for a smaller dog rather than a horse? Bwhaha. Funny mental image, brushing your hair with a giant horse brush. I have 3 lovely natural bristle brushes that are actually garment brushes that would definitely do in a pinch, especially since they’re so sturdy. Two of them are part of a set, with beautiful wooden handles, and one is sterling silver, part of my great grandmother’s silver hand mirror & brush set. I currently use ’em to get all the dog hair off of my clothes, lol.
When I bought my soft bristle brush (no idea whether the bristles are natural or not), it came with a brush cleaner. It’s quite small and it has bristles of different lengths. I use it daily and, less frequently, I wash my brush with dish detergent. I recommend the purchase of a similar product and your brush will be cleaner in no time.
How interesting! Do you have a photo of the brush cleaner? I’m picturing a sort of… multi-length-tined comb in my head? I definitely find running my comb through my boar bristle brush really helps pull out all the hair. This is super extra necessary with how long my hair is—I can practically fill the brush in a week or two!
There you go:
http://www.misslipgloss.nl/tom-borstels-van-zenner/ (second last picture)
I could not find any pics of the brush cleaner on the company’s website, so I looked for it elsewhere. This cleaner is assorted to several brush models, not only those you see in the pictures. Honestly, it’s just worth to buy any brush of that line to get it.
Ok! How funny, I actually recognize that contraption—I wonder if I’ve seen one in my mother’s or grandmother’s drawer and simply not known what it was for? Or maybe it is an attachment for my vacuum, lol. I suppose I’ll find out if I ever see it again. I will be sure to keep an eye out for similar contraptions in stores as well. It does look like it wouldn’t do much on a tightly bristled natural bristle brush, though—I’ve found only a stiff, solid comb will get my hair out of those. Thoughts?
Well, it works quite well. I remove the longest hair with my hands and then I use the cleaner to remove dust, lint, shorter hair and all those “things” that make the brush dirty. It does make a difference.
The bristles (in the brush) are synthetic, but they are designed to mimic natural ones. I decided to give it a try because this product is very affordable, not exactly dollar store prices but still on the cheap side and with a good quality price ratio.
I just did a quick search on eBay to see what turned up, and I was somewhat surprised to find there’s a rather wide assortment of brush cleaners on the market, and for widely varying prices. Yet another thing I didn’t know I needed 😛
I had a bristle brush ( though not nearly as nice as yours) and i found it couldnt really get the tangles out of my hair. I have very thick hair. Its not curly, but it gets unbelievable tangles. I have to use a plastic brush. How do you wash one of those? (if you have to)
FYI, there are combination boar bristle and nylon brushes that work for thick hair – Check out the amazing (and pricey) Mason Pearson boar bristle brushes.
HOLY WHOA! When you said “pricey” I was thinking $30, maybe $40. But $125?!? Holy hell. Also, their website is terrible. Yipes. I don’t think those are for me…
Haha, I know! But their quality is unmatched. Apparently these are brushes you can pass down generations. If it doesn’t get lost (or stolen), you never have to buy another brush, so looking at it as an investment, the price stats to make sense.
Still…. yipes. I have an antique silver natural bristle brush & hand mirror set that cost me less than one of their brushes. And, as a bonus, mine is much prettier 😛
Ich, I can imagine! I never use a boar bristle to detangle… I mean, I’ve tried, but ich. Not a good idea. I, too have very thick, straight hair, and those dense, natural bristles simply cannot work their way through anything. That’s why I went to pairing the brush with a wooden comb. The comb is for the tangles, and the boar bristle brush is for re-distributing oils and smoothing. I’d definitely recommend trying this combo 🙂
As for the plastic brush… beyond removing the hairs from it, I’ve never really washed a plastic brush. They’re totally non-porous, so they can’t absorb any of the oils from your hair, and that’s what you’re washing out.
I have a question. I own a Hydrea natural bristle dry bath brush. My problem is – how do I get all the lint, fuzz and stray hairs out of it? When I first got it I made sure that I washed it every week. However, it has accumulated a “ton” of fuzzy lint from the nearby microfiber bedding. I try to pick through the brush with a long sewing needle but that only gets a little of the fuzz from around the edges. How do I get the entire brush clean? Any suggestions? By the way – love your website.
Hmm. Honestly… does it need to be that clean? Is this just an aesthetics thing? Are we just talking a very thin coating of lint? Either way, I would recommend contacting the manufacturer—I’ve never dealt with this particular problem!