Excerpt from Become.com

Washing a vented hair brush

Maybe you haven’t put much thought into cleaning your hair brush, but periodic maintenance is necessary to make a high-quality vented hair brush last. Dirt and particles build up and you don’t want to transfer that onto your scalp!

Here are the tips to keep that vented hair brush clean:

• Remove as much hair as possible. You can use another brush to loosen trapped hair, then run the pick of a comb through the bristles to get extra strands out.
• Prepare a basin of warm water. Some add a small amount of shampoo to the water; others swear that a teaspoon of baking soda will do the trick. Either one, or both, works fine.
• Wash your vented hair brush in the water solution for a few minutes, which cleans off natural oil build up and product residue. If necessary, soak longer–for an hour or even overnight. The soaking method is not for wooden, padded, and boar bristle hair brushes, which absorb moisture and provide a fertile environment for mold or mildew to develop.
• Get rid of excess water with a paper towel and lay bristle down hanging over the edge of the sink to air dry.

How do you use teasing hair brushes?

Teasing or backcombing is a technique where hair is combed in the opposite direction of its growth. The small tangles that form add volume and hold your hair in place. This process is the basis of many looks, from the ’50s Bouffant and Beehive to contemporary scene hair. Done improperly, teasing can cause damage, so here are some tips on how to use teasing hair brushes:

• Start with the right tools. A teasing brush and hairspray are essential, but a wide paddle brush and hair balm can finish off your look.
• Hair preparation is important. Start with clean hair that’s not weighed down by natural oils and other residue, and be sure your hair is completely dry. It’s recommended you straighten very curly hair beforehand, because curly hair has a greater risk of damage from teasing. If you do straighten, allow hair to cool as heated hair is prone to breakage. Lastly, detangle – you want the only tangles in your hair to be those you’ve deliberately teased in.
• Separate a portion of hair into one hand. Smaller portions of hair (1-2 inches wide) produce tighter results, while larger areas give a looser feel. Clip the rest back.
• Hairspray the selected piece. Using the teasing hair brush, start approximately five inches away from the scalp and brush toward the roots. Only three strokes are really needed: two halfway down and one all the way.
• Repeat this process with new sections of hair until you’ve covered all areas you want teased. Then style however you’d like.

How do you use a hot air brush?

A tool that will save you time and drawer space is the hot air hair brush, which combines a round brush and blow dryer for simultaneous styling and drying. Hot air blows out from the center of the barrel, drying wet hair into an easy, wavy style. This two-in-one unit is ideal for those with arthritis, and gives you salon-worth waves more quickly than curlers and a bonnet hair dryer.

Here are some tips on how to use hot air hair brushes with a round barrel.

• First allow the brush to warm up. With your hair damp, untangled, and parted normally, clip one side out of the way and leave the other side loose for blow drying.
• Take a section of hair 1-2 inches thick and position the brush underneath, close to the roots. Move the brush slowly down the strand. Place the brush on top of your hair for an outward flip at your hair tips. Continue until you’ve covered all sections.
• For curls, wind a piece of hair around the brush, and hold a few seconds before releasing. Creating tension for great curls is a simple task when you have a free hand to hold the end of each hair section. Finish off with hair spray to hold the style and tame flyaways. Using a hot air brush is easy!

Top brushes for each hair type

The ideal brush is dependent on the type of look you want to achieve, but certain brushes work better on certain hair types. Consider these tips as you make your brush purchase:

• Medium to thick: The paddle brush is the “it” tool for smoothing down medium to thick textured hair. A round boar bristle hair brush is ideal for distributing oils from the scalp throughout the hair, although some find that animal hair adds unwanted static and prefer hard bristles with ball tips.
• Coarse and curly: If your hair is coarse with a very tight curl pattern, a wide-toothed comb is gentle enough on your hair to prevent breakage and strong enough to get the tangles out. Comb in the shower while your hair is wet, not on dry curls. A Denman styling brush can help eliminate snarls – just keep your hair well-conditioned and your strokes gentle.
• Fine: Those with fine hair need a gentler brush that isn’t too wide, as thin hair is often fragile. Wide toothed combs are great for a natural look, while slim-barreled round brushes like the Monroe Etiquette brush will catch the fine strands and finish your hair off with added fullness.