Over the years, I’ve collected dozens of makeup brushes, which means I’ve also spent way too much time cleaning them. Dirty brushes can ruin your glam, but they can also cause breakouts and spread bacteria and whatever else is in your makeup bag across your skin. In the worst case, you can even get an infection. Regular cleaning—every seven to 10 days—is important, but it’s also important to do it right. Some cleaning methods are ineffective, and others are downright bad for your brush.

There are tons of tutorials on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram showing influencers and makeup gurus how to clean their brushes, but many of them are full of bad information. Using oil, for example, is a no-go; it’s extremely difficult to remove from the bristles, which can make the brushes less effective and cause breakouts on certain skin types. Rubbing alcohol is also a bad idea, as it can weaken the adhesive holding the bristles to the handle. I’ve also seen tons of videos of users completely submerging their brush heads in soapy water. Again, no: that can ultimately damage the adhesive too.

Instead, start with a basic rinse to remove most visible, external makeup. Fill a small bowl with micellar water and swirl each brush tip in it. I like to use micellar water to clean makeup brushes because, just as it somehow easily removes makeup from your skin, it does the same with this brush. If you don’t have micellar water, simply hold the brush tips under running water.

Next, fill the bowl with plain, clean water and add a few drops of mild dish soap or baby shampoo. Don’t use anything else, such as hand soap. Some bloggers have also recommended Dove body wash in the past, but it contains some conditioning agents that can build up on your bristles over time. The milder and more cleansing the soap, the better. Run your brush tips through it again, this time massaging them with your hands to “scrub” them. If it gets too dirty, dump the water out and refill the bowl. Eventually, each brush will stop dispensing powders and liquids, and when you run it under the tap again, the water that comes out will be clear.