How to Clean makeup brushes and sponges: Tips and Tricks

Makeup brushes and sponges are a beauty essential for applying makeup products to the face and neck, such as foundation, concealer, powder or blush. To maintain skin health it is important to undertake regular cleaning of makeup brushes and sponges to clean products off the bristles and sponges for optimal skincare.

Luckily, removing residue of makeup products from brushes and sponges is not a difficult task. In fact, there are several home cleaning methods that you can follow to remove makeup. Here below we explain a few methods to use when cleaning brushes, bristles and sponges to help you along with your makeup and beauty tips and tricks.

Best Ways to Clean Makeup Sponges

With liquid soap

If you are wondering how to clean your makeup sponges and brushes one of the most common methods is to use plenty of water and liquid soap. To start, moisten the sponge or brush with water and apply enough liquid soap to make it lather. A drop the size of a small coin is recommended.

You can use hand soap, shower gel or whatever products you use to wash dishes. After the sponge absorbs the soap, rinse with warm water and squeeze to remove excess. Repeat this process several times until the water starts to run clear. When that happens, remove all the liquid and let it air dry completely before using it again in your beauty routine. When it comes to brushes you can apply the same technique ensuring that the soap reaches the top of the bristles cleaning out all makeup remains.

With a bar of soap

The method of cleaning your makeup sponges with bar soap is exactly the same as above. Wet the sponge or brush with warm water, moisten the soap and rub it well with the sponge or brush until it has absorbed it and then rinse it off. Repeat this process until the water runs clear and is free of dirt. Take care that you do not damage the bristles on your brushes.

With Olive oil

You can also clean sponges and brushes with olive oil to remove make-up residue. All you have to do is mix a tablespoon of liquid soap with another of olive oil in a container. and then pop the sponge or brushes in. Make sure they absorbs the mixture well, then rinse with plenty of lukewarm water until they regain their original colour and finally let them dry on a clean towel. This method is one of the best homemade tricks to keep beauty and make-up applicators clean.

In the microwave

Washing your makeup sponges and brushes in the microwave is another pretty effective method. This can be quite a quick method to keep your tools clean. You should take care to do it right, as you can risk burning the sponge.

Just put the sponge or brush in a microwave-safe container of water and some liquid soap. Dip the sponges and brushes into the mixture and make sure it absorbs well. Then put the container in the microwave for a minute. When taking it out, wash it with plenty of water until all traces of make-up residue are removed from your beauty tools. And be careful because it will be hot!

How often should you wash a makeup sponge or brush?

To keep a good skincare routine and skin health so that you can look at your best it is recommended to wash make-up sponges after each use, but as we know that this is not always possible, at least try to do it once a week. You should also change your sponge every 2-3 months for the sake your skin health.

With regards to your makeup brushes they can last a little longer depending if used for powder or foundation. Since foundation makeup is thicker and wet we recommend each day or at least once a week. For those makeup brushes used with powder make-up then every couple of weeks is sufficient.