Important: Safety Warning
This page describes practices involving highly flammable materials in ways that create a serious risk of fire or explosion.
This page directs the use of hazardous substances — such as benzine, gasoline, lye, or strong acids — for household tasks. These materials are highly flammable, corrosive, or poisonous, and the practices described have caused fires, burns, and poisonings.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Home › Hairdressing Both for Men and Women › Hairdressing Both for Men and Women: Hence
Hairdressing Both for Men and Women: Hence
An analogy may be found in the grooming of horses. Every good groom knows by experience that plenty of combing and brushing not only produces a fine coat but promotes the health and vitality of the animal. Hence brushes with moderately stiff bristles should be chosen. For men the so-called military or broad double brushes, one for each hand, are to be preferred.
To Dry-clean the Hair. To thoroughly cleanse the hair it should be brushed successively from partings made in all directions upon the scalp, the utmost care being taken that foreign matter accumulated on the brush is removed and not returned by the next stroke to the hair.
Professional hairdressers when giving the hair a dry cleaning run a comb through the brush each time the latter is drawn through the hair, and afterwards wipe the comb clean on a towel. The object of this process is to remove dirt and dandruff and bring about the additional softness resulting from perfect cleanli- If this is not done, the natural oil of the hair mixing with foreign substances merely makes the hair sticky. ness. - Care of Hairbrushes.
Brushes should be cleaned very often and thoroughly, as a surprising amount of dust and dirt gathers in the hair.
This quickly accumulates in the brushes and fills them. Hence the brush should be cleaned immediately after using.
Substances recommended for this purpose are gasoline, ammonia, borax, and sal soda, of which the last is least desirable. It is also a good plan to disinfect the brush by putting a few drops of carbolic acid in the water. Neither hot water nor soap should be used, and the bristles should be allowed to dry thoroughly before using them. The effect of hot water and soap is to soften the bristles and also the glue with which they are commonly fastened into the brush, and when soft, the bristles are likely to split and break off or fall out. - To Clean a Hairbrush. First comb out the loose hair with a coarse comb. Turn the brush downward and strike the bristles on a smooth, solid surface to loosen the dust and dandruff. Then rub the bristles over a Turkish or other coarse towel to wipe off as much of the loosened dust as possible.