How To Make Your Own Makeup Brush Cleaning Solution Using Tea Tree Oil

It’s a DIY kind of day here on the blog! Rest assured, you can do it!

I wish I could say that I’m crafty and can create beautiful works of art. But the truth is when it comes to DIY, the only attempts I make are beauty-related. I love researching and learning about natural ingredients and how we can use them to benefit our bodies and our health. Beauty DIY’s also mean that we can control what we put on our skin and what’s ultimately absorbed by our body. So today I’ll be sharing with you a simple recipe I’ve used for years to clean my makeup brushes. It spotlights Australian Tea Tree Oil, an essential oil that has been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Packed with germ-fighting properties, tea tree oil is easily accessible at your local pharmacy or health store and is fairly inexpensive.

Here’s How To Make Your Own Makeup Brush Cleaning Solution … 

Makeup Brush Cleaning Solution Recipe

• 1 1/2 cup Warm Water
• 1 TBSP Shampoo
• 5 drops Tea Tree Oil

Mix the water, shampoo and tea tree oil in a bowl.

Collect your makeup brushes and one at a time, swirl each brush in the solution. Remove it and swirl it in the palm of your hand. This adds some friction to the cleaning process and removes any deep-down impurities. Rinse the bristles and repeat the process until the brush is completely clean.

If you happen to have one of those brush cleaning gloves, by all means, use it! I love the Sigma Brush Cleaning Glove currently on sale on Amazon here. It’s made from soft silicone, has a universal fit and features two sides. One side is for face brushes and the other for smaller eye brushes. There are 8 cleaning textures for deep cleaning, refining and re-shaping the brushes. You can dip the brushes in cleaning solution first or you can add a small amount of cleaning solution to the glove and then swirl.

Lay the brushes on a towel to air dry. Depending on how many brushes you have to clean and how dirty they are, you might need to re-mix some new solution.

Always rinse your brushes with the water streaming down and lay the brushes flat to dry. These aspects are important, as you do not want to get water up the brush and in between the metal part and the wooden handle, which can cause the glue to come loose and the handle to detach from the brush.

Why This Works

The reason why it makes sense to use shampoo is that a lot of brushes are made from natural hairs, so using a shampoo for cleaning should do the trick. You don’t want to use a harsh, clarifying shampoo or any type of detergent or soap, as these products can be a little bit harsher. They can dry the brushes out and make the hairs fall out.

In my humble opinion, a gentle yet effective shampoo such as the Briogeo Don’t Despair Repair, works better than your standard brush cleanser and is more affordable in the long run. Tea Tree Oil is a natural anti-septic and has powerful antimicrobial properties. It is renowned for killing bacteria and acting like an effective disinfectant. Thus, it is a great choice to incorporate in the process of cleaning and sanitizing your makeup brushes. I’ve been loving the Briogeo B.Well Organing Australian 100% Tea Tree Oil available at Sephora here.

What do you use to clean your makeup brushes? Please share in the comments below.

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