How Often to Clean Makeup Brushes, and Why Sponges Are a Different Problem

Brushes every 7 to 10 days. Sponges after every use. Those are two answers to what sounds like one question, and the distance between them is the useful part of this page.

The interval for brushes comes from the American Academy of Dermatology, which says that to protect your skin and kill any harmful bacteria that lingers in your brushes, it is a good idea to wash your brushes every 7 to 10 days. On a separate AAD page, board-certified dermatologist Cynthia Bailey gives the sponge its own instruction: Sponges should be cleaned after every use.

So how often to clean makeup brushes has a settled answer, and the sponge lying next to them runs on a different clock entirely. There is a measurement behind that.

How often should you clean makeup brushes?

Every 7 to 10 days, and the number comes from more than one place. On the AAD's page about replacing cosmetics, board-certified dermatologist Dara Spearman states the same interval and attributes it: Studies show that you need to clean your makeup brushes every 7 to 10 days.

What accumulates in the meantime is not only pigment. The AAD describes brushes as collecting product residue, dirt and oil, and adds that makeup brushes are a breeding ground for bacteria. The consequence it names is specific rather than vague: Dirty makeup brushes can cause an infection, such as a fungal infection, E. coli, or a staph infection, which can be very serious.

That is the ceiling of the risk, not the average outcome. Most people who go a month between washes get nothing worse than a brush that lays down foundation badly. The interval is worth keeping because the downside is cheap to avoid, not because it is likely.

How often to clean makeup sponges, and why the answer is every time

A 2019 study from Aston University tested used cosmetics donated by people in the UK, across lipstick, lip gloss, eyeliners, mascaras and beauty blenders. Its stated aim was To investigate the nature and extent of microbial contamination in five categories of used cosmetic products, and the headline result covers the whole set: About 79-90% of all used products were contaminated with bacteria.

Inside that number the categories sit far apart. Most of them carried bacterial loads in the range of 10² to 10³ colony-forming units per ml. Beauty blenders averaged more than 10⁶. That is a difference of roughly a thousandfold between the sponge and everything else in the same makeup bag, and it is why the sponge gets a stricter rule rather than a shorter version of the same one.

Two habits in the same study explain most of it. The authors report that Ninety-three per cent of beauty blenders had not been cleaned and 64% had been dropped on the floor and continued to be used. A sponge is also stored damp, which a brush laid flat to dry is not.

What grew was not harmless. The study records that Presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Citrobacter freundii was detected, and that Enterobacteriaceae and fungi were detected in all product types, and were prevalent in beauty blenders. The authors' own conclusion is measured: Significant levels of microbial contamination occur during use of cosmetic products and presence of pathogenic organisms pose a potential risk to health.

Potential risk. The study counted organisms on donated products; it did not follow anyone to see who got an infection. That distinction matters for the next question.

Brushes, sponges and fingers, side by side

	How often to clean	Why the interval is what it is	The failure mode
Brushes	Every 7 to 10 days	Bristles dry between uses, so growth is slower	Washed too aggressively, which destroys the glue in the handle
Sponges	After every use	Stored damp, and measured at roughly a thousand times the bacterial load of other products	Squeezed out and put away wet, which is the same as not washing it
Fingers	Every application	Washing hands before makeup is standard AAD advice	Skipped because it does not feel like a tool

The AAD lists washing your hands and face before applying makeup among the habits that let cosmetics last their intended lifespan, on the same list as storing them properly and replacing caps.

Can a dirty brush actually cause the breakout you have?

The AAD is clear that dirty brushes and sponges can cause acne breakouts, rashes and skin infections. What no source can tell you is whether the bumps currently on your face came from the brush.

The complication is timing. When makeup itself is the cause, the AAD describes a condition called acne cosmetica, and the delay is long enough to hide the connection: It can take anywhere from a few days to 6 months for blemishes to appear. Its presentation is also easy to mistake for ordinary acne, appearing as many tiny bumps that usually appear on the cheeks, chin, or forehead.

Six months is longer than anyone's memory of when they last changed a product. So the honest position is that cleaning the tools is worth doing on its own terms, and that treating it as a diagnosis for a specific breakout will mislead you. If the bumps are concentrated on the forehead, tiny bumps on the forehead works through what else produces that pattern. If they itch and arrived in uniform crops, fungal acne and regular acne separates two things that look similar and need opposite treatment.

What to wash them with, and what ruins them

The AAD's method is short. It starts with a limit that most tutorials skip: Only rinse the tip, as submerging the whole brush head will eventually dissolve the glue that connects the brush head to the handle.

For the wash itself, the instruction is to Fill a bowl with lukewarm water and a tablespoon of either gentle shampoo or clarifying shampoo, with a reason attached for not reaching for the bar next to the sink: Using plain soap and water can dry out the bristles. Then swirl each brush tip in the bowl, and Continue shampooing and rinsing each brush until the water runs clear from the brush.

Drying is where the glue comes back. The AAD says to Lay your brushes flat to dry on a towel with the tips hanging off the edge of the counter, and warns against the obvious alternative: Do not dry your brushes upright in a container, as this will cause the water to run down the brushes, loosening the glue that connects the brush head with the handle.

Both rules protect the same joint. A brush that sheds bristles after a few months has usually been drowned or stood upright wet, and the ferrule gave up before the hair did.

The sponge has its own sequence on the AAD's page. Fill a bowl with warm water and a few drops of liquid cleanser, then Place your sponge in the bowl, and massage the soapy water into the sponge for 15 seconds. Rinse it under warm running water until the water runs clear, then Squeeze out the excess water, and let the sponge air dry on a clean paper towel.

Air dry is the operative half. A sponge wrung out and dropped back into a drawer is stored wet, which is the condition the Aston numbers describe.

One rule covers both tools and has nothing to do with technique. The AAD says to never share your makeup brushes with anyone else, and wash them often, and extends it to the products themselves: Never share makeup that you place directly on your skin or eyelashes or apply with a brush or sponge.

What changes how often you clean makeup brushes

The 7 to 10 day interval assumes ordinary use. Three things shorten it.

What the brush carries. A brush that moves cream or liquid product is carrying an emulsion with water in it. A dry powder brush is not. The same interval does more work on the foundation brush than on the one used for setting powder, and the blush brush sits wherever the blush formula puts it; how to apply blush covers how cream, powder and liquid differ in the routine. Fewer tools also means fewer of these intervals to keep track of, which is part of the case makeup tools worth owning makes for a short list.

Where it is used. A brush used around the eyes deserves the stricter end, because the infections the AAD names for old eye makeup are eye infections. The same goes for the spoolies and angled brushes used on brows; how to choose a brow product covers what each of those small tools is actually for.

Whether the skin under it is broken. Actives thin and disturb the surface for a while, and open skin is not a good match for a tool that has gone two weeks. If you are starting a retinoid or an acid, the tools deserve the same care as the routine around them, which the order you apply skincare in covers on the product side.

When to throw away makeup, not just wash the brush

At some point the tool is clean and the product is the problem. The AAD's summary of why is direct: over time, bacteria and mold often contaminate makeup, and These germs can cause an eye infection or a common skin infection like impetigo or folliculitis.

Mascara is the one with the shortest clock and a stated reason. Dr. Spearman says the lifespan is three months for good reason, citing that A study published in a medical journal reported that staph aureus bacteria are found in mascara after three months of use, and notes that Staph aureus is one of the leading causes of skin and soft-tissue infections.

Working out the date is harder than it should be. Some packages carry a period after opening symbol, an open jar icon with a number and the letter M, and as Dr. Bailey explains, The number tells you how many months the product should last after you open it. Many packages carry nothing, because as she also notes, In the United States, the Period After Opening information isn't required on cosmetics.

This is the same gap that runs through the rest of a cosmetic label. The regulation governs how ingredients are declared and says nothing about how much of each is present, which is the subject of how to read a skincare ingredient list. The date is one more thing the package is allowed to leave out, so the practical move is to write the month on the tube yourself when you open it.

When the date is genuinely unknown, the AAD lists what spoiled makeup does. Products worth discarding are the ones that Start to clump like mascara or eyeliner, that Change in consistency like a foundation that separates, that Crumble or fall apart like powder eyeshadow or blush, that smell bad, that look dry and flaky or runny, that have changed color, or that Feel different on your skin.

Storage buys back some of that time. The AAD's advice is to Store your cosmetics in a dry, clean space, keeping them at room temperature and out of direct sunlight, which rules out the two places most people keep them, being a bathroom shelf and a car.

The short version

1. Brushes every 7 to 10 days. Sponges after every use.
2. Rinse only the tip. Submerging the head dissolves the glue.
3. Gentle or clarifying shampoo, not bar soap.
4. Rinse until the water runs clear.
5. Dry flat with the tips over the edge of the counter. Never upright in a jar.
6. Sponges get 15 seconds of massaging in soapy water, then air dry on a paper towel.
7. Write the month you opened it on mascara and liquid foundation.
8. Mascara goes at three months whether or not it is finished.
9. Nothing that touches your skin or lashes gets shared.

When this is a dermatologist question

Cleaning tools is preventive. Three situations are not.

Anything that looks like an infection. Increasing pain, warmth, spreading redness, crusting or pus is a reason to be seen rather than to buy a brush cleaner. The organisms the AAD names by way of consequence, including staph and E. coli, are treated by clinicians rather than by hygiene.

Anything involving the eye. Redness, discharge, swelling or changed vision after eye makeup goes to a clinician promptly, and the makeup gets thrown out regardless.

Breakouts that persist after the tools and products change. If you have cleaned everything, replaced the old products, waited a couple of months and the bumps are the same, the makeup was probably never the cause. When to see a dermatologist sets out the thresholds, and closed comedones covers the specific kind of bump that most often survives a change of routine.

FAQ

How often should you wash makeup brushes? Every 7 to 10 days, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Sponges are different and should be cleaned after every use.

Can dirty makeup brushes cause acne? They can contribute. The AAD says dirty brushes and sponges can cause acne breakouts, rashes and skin infections. What no source can confirm is whether a particular breakout came from your brush, partly because makeup-related acne can take anywhere from a few days to six months to appear.

How do you clean makeup brushes without brush cleaner? The AAD's own method uses a tablespoon of gentle shampoo or clarifying shampoo in a bowl of lukewarm water, so a dedicated brush cleaner is optional. Plain bar soap is the one substitution to avoid, because it dries out the bristles.

How often should you replace a makeup sponge? The published guidance covers cleaning rather than replacement. A sponge that has torn, stayed stained after washing, or developed an odor has reached the end regardless of its age.

What does the period after opening symbol mean? It is an open jar icon with a number followed by the letter M, and the number is how many months the product should last once opened. It is not required on cosmetics sold in the United States, so plenty of packages do not carry one.

When should you throw away mascara? At three months. A study cited by the AAD found staph aureus in mascara after three months of use, and staph is a leading cause of skin and soft-tissue infections.

Does washing brushes more often than every 7 days help? There is no evidence that it does, and washing has its own cost: repeated soaking works on the glue that holds the head to the handle. The interval is a balance rather than a minimum.

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The part of this that people skip is not the washing. It is the drying, and the reason is that a wet brush standing in a jar and a wet sponge shut in a drawer both look like finished jobs. How often to clean makeup brushes matters less than whether they were dry before the next use, which is the single thing the sponge research keeps pointing at. Flat on a towel, tips over the edge, and the interval takes care of itself.