Yesterday, I cleaned Jenn's comb after combing out Evangeline's hair.

[conuly]

I really hate seeing hair trapped in a comb or a brush, and I hate even more seeing that lint around the bottom of the teeth or bristles.

When it was done, the light happened to be just right and I realized (ew) that every tooth was covered, top to bottom, with scales of dried skin and oil!

Ew, ew, ew, ew, EW! I've been going after it with a needle off and on for the past few days trying to scrape all that gunk off the teeth. Be easier to buy a new one, but then I wouldn't have the satisfaction of knowing that I got rid of all that. (And this for a woman who ate all of my jam thumbprints, and a good pound and a half worth of my blondie!)

So, the message here? Either look a lot more closely at your combs, or, possibly, a lot *less* closely. Because that's just disgusting.

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

You may find that really hot water helps and isn't a whole lot of work.

[conuly]

Tried that. AND soap.

Didn't work.

My father melted all our hair things when we had lice, boiling them. Would've been easier to toss them.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Oof. You can try a mild acid like white vinegar, but that has the downside of getting vinegar on your hairbrush. I've never tried it myself. (The idea is that the stuff that gets onto your hairbrush tends to be basic, so a mild acid can help clean it. But then you have vinegar on your hairbrush... I guess lemon juice might not be too bad.)

For lice, I would toss things. They're cheap enough and lice are such a pain.

Anyhow, good luck with the cleaning. You may just have decided to have a difficult, tedious task to do.

[conuly]

After two days I've gotten most of it off, actually, but now I'll be checking any and all combs religiously.

It was deeply satisfying work, though.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

So, what do you find is the easiest way to get all the lint off from the base of the teeth?

[conuly]

Use a needle to pry it up, then pull it off.

[strega42.livejournal.com]

And this is why I save my old dead toothbrushes in a baggie marked "used up". Toothbrushes are amazing for cleaning small spaces & all kinds of random things.

Hot water, *detergent* not soap (shampoo works fairly well) and a scrubby old dead toothbrush will usually loosen things up enough that they either slide off the teeth, or are much easier to scrape off.

Also, henna kills head lice. Powdered henna leaf plus lemon juice, mix till about like yoghurt, plaster the head, leave on for about 2-4 hours. You can also treat combs & brushes this way, but it will stain fabric.

After you rinse the stuff out of your hair, your hair WILL be dyed red, so this may not be a fantastic option for some.

Anyway - random bit of henna trivia that you may find useful in the future either to use or pass on to someone else.

[conuly]

My sister hennas her hair, so I'll be sure to tell her :)

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Once a week, fill up the bathroom sink with hot water, add a capful of ammonia, throw all your combs and brushes in (after picking out the loose hair) and let them soak for 15 minutes or so. Then rinse well, shake the water out, and let them dry on a towel.

This will easily eliminate the gunk and kill any hostile life-forms, and is safe even for expensive natural-bristle brushes.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

OK, that's damned disgusting. *shiver*

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

Also: we don't share brushes and combs at my house. I don't want the chemicals from my hair to get into Annika's hair and the boys demanded their own combs. :)

[leora.livejournal.com]

You may find that really hot water helps and isn't a whole lot of work.

[conuly]

Tried that. AND soap.

Didn't work.

My father melted all our hair things when we had lice, boiling them. Would've been easier to toss them.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Oof. You can try a mild acid like white vinegar, but that has the downside of getting vinegar on your hairbrush. I've never tried it myself. (The idea is that the stuff that gets onto your hairbrush tends to be basic, so a mild acid can help clean it. But then you have vinegar on your hairbrush... I guess lemon juice might not be too bad.)

For lice, I would toss things. They're cheap enough and lice are such a pain.

Anyhow, good luck with the cleaning. You may just have decided to have a difficult, tedious task to do.

[conuly]

After two days I've gotten most of it off, actually, but now I'll be checking any and all combs religiously.

It was deeply satisfying work, though.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

So, what do you find is the easiest way to get all the lint off from the base of the teeth?

[conuly]

Use a needle to pry it up, then pull it off.

[strega42.livejournal.com]

And this is why I save my old dead toothbrushes in a baggie marked "used up". Toothbrushes are amazing for cleaning small spaces & all kinds of random things.

Hot water, *detergent* not soap (shampoo works fairly well) and a scrubby old dead toothbrush will usually loosen things up enough that they either slide off the teeth, or are much easier to scrape off.

Also, henna kills head lice. Powdered henna leaf plus lemon juice, mix till about like yoghurt, plaster the head, leave on for about 2-4 hours. You can also treat combs & brushes this way, but it will stain fabric.

After you rinse the stuff out of your hair, your hair WILL be dyed red, so this may not be a fantastic option for some.

Anyway - random bit of henna trivia that you may find useful in the future either to use or pass on to someone else.

[conuly]

My sister hennas her hair, so I'll be sure to tell her :)

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Once a week, fill up the bathroom sink with hot water, add a capful of ammonia, throw all your combs and brushes in (after picking out the loose hair) and let them soak for 15 minutes or so. Then rinse well, shake the water out, and let them dry on a towel.

This will easily eliminate the gunk and kill any hostile life-forms, and is safe even for expensive natural-bristle brushes.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

OK, that's damned disgusting. *shiver*

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

Also: we don't share brushes and combs at my house. I don't want the chemicals from my hair to get into Annika's hair and the boys demanded their own combs. :)