6 Best Eco-Friendly Hairbrush Options For Sustainable Haircare
Apart from regular combs, hairbrushes aid in smooth detangling to make hair care easier and support our haircare routines. You might think you can’t eliminate plastic hairbrushes from your routine, but many eco-friendly hairbrushes are on the market. You’ll find hair brushes to support various needs, from fine hair to thick hair.
Although hairbrushes have been around for a long time, we still have to address a significant plastic challenge. Many traditional hairbrushes are made of plastic materials, posing a danger to the environment. Why not consider a sustainable hairbrush?
This article gives a rundown of some of our favorite hair brushes made from sustainable materials.
6 Plastic-Free Hair Brush Options
Acquiring eco-friendly hair brushes isn’t as daunting as it may seem. However, for people who are unsure of where to start, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorites.
Here, you’ll find carefully-crafted sustainable hairbrush varieties. From bamboo brushes to plant-based bristles (also common in bamboo toothbrushes, another eco-friendly alternative) and everything in between, some of the best eco-friendly hairbrush options are here.
Related: Elsewhere in your hair routine, check out our guide to the best zero-waste shampoos available to shun those plastic bottles. You might also be interested in our tips for zero-waste skincare and zero-waste makeup options.
They support various hair types and contribute to your healthy hair routine. Not to worry, you won’t have to break the bank to acquire a new brush.
Quick links to our picks of the best eco-friendly hairbrush options:
1. TEK Large Oval Ash Wood Brush
Materials: FSC Certified wood, hornbeam pins, natural rubber
TEK's wooden brushes stand out if you’re looking for 100% plastic-free brushes. From an Italian Certified B Corp, these wooden brushes are every environmentalist’s dream.
The handles come in natural ash wood, featuring an ergonomic design. Tek also uses natural vegetable waxes and oils to treat its hairbrush handles. The hornbeam pins sit on a natural rubber pad. As a result, you get flexible bristles that support any hair type. Additionally, the wooden pins don’t produce static, preventing hair from frizzing.
Apart from its environmental concerns, Tek also produces wooden hairbrushes to complement your hair products. It supports a zero-waste hair routine while aiding brushing and effortless detangling.
This particular brush features short pins, making them ideal for short or thin hair. However, Tek also provides brush options with long pins ideal for thick and long hair.
High-Quality Craftsmanship and Zero Waste Hair Brushes
Tek pays attention to craftsmanship with all its hair products. It’s also an eco-conscious business that prioritizes sustainability throughout its processes.
The brand crafts its products in Italy using wood and pure rubber to produce some of the best eco-friendly hair brushes. From the brush components down to the packaging, Tek uses natural materials.
If your brush looks like it’s missing a pin, don’t panic. This is a deliberate decision amongst many natural brush makers. The space allows the natural base to breathe while preventing moisture build-up.
Shop direct on TEK (ships from the EU) or check the price on Amazon
2. Saya Designs The Vegan Brush
Materials: FSC Beech Wood and Tampico Fibre
Saya Designs is an eco-friendly hair brand that provides safe products for your hair and the environment. Saya Designs’ brushes are fully biodegradable. Also, each brush comes in a fully recyclable mailer bag and box.
The brand offers a variety of brush types to suit personal needs. The Vegan Brush, as the name implies, is vegan-friendly. The handle is made from beech wood, and the bristles are plant-based. Specifically, this brand uses Tampico fiber for its vegan line.
Alternatively, you can also explore its brushes made with natural boar bristles. This brush’s plant fibers are anti-static. As a result, the bristles support the easy distribution of your hair’s natural oils. As the bristles help moisture distribution, you get fewer split ends and healthier hair.
Best for Fine Hair
This wooden brush works best for finer hair types. However, whatever your hair needs are, you can find something from the brand’s line of products.
Apart from brush options to aid hair brushing, you’ll also find hair oils and combs. The brand also pays attention to zero-waste practices like using leftover wooden roots for some items. As part of its environmental commitments, you’re certain you can add your packaging to your compost. Each packaging box comes from papaya fruit pulp and only uses vegetable inks.
3. Package Free Shop Bamboo Hairbrush
Materials: Bamboo, natural rubber, and Carnauba wax
The founder of the Package Free Shop, Lauren Singer, is a popular name in the zero waste space. She started with her blog, Trash is for Tossers, as a space to document her zero-waste journey.
Over time, she created the Package Free Shop as the retail division of the blog. As the shop’s name suggests, it stocks plastic-free and zero-waste everyday items. One such product is these bamboo hairbrushes.
Bamboo hair brushes are high-quality products and also some of the top sustainable items on the market. They make great alternatives to plastic brushes. This brush from Package Free Shop is not only compostable but also reduces hair static. As a result, you can say goodbye to flyaways while enjoying a frizz-free brushing process.
Zero Waste Hair Brushes and Combs
The Package Free Shop prides itself in compiling some of the best zero-waste products from responsible businesses. You’ll find various plastic-free products to support your zero-waste journey on the site. You can also get a wooden pocket comb to support hair care, apart from the bamboo hairbrush.
4. Boodboo Natural Wooden Paddle Hair Brush
Materials: Bamboo
Bamboo has significant natural properties, and Boodboo took advantage of this while crafting its bamboo brushes. The brand uses premium quality bamboo to craft each bamboo brush. Sometimes using just a comb doesn’t get the job done.
However, if you need both a comb and brush while getting ready, you can benefit from this set. The set comes with a brush and comb, making it the perfect travel set.
Instead of opting for traditional brushes, this bamboo brush set gives your hair everything it needs. The soft bamboo bristles detangle from roots to ends, massage your scalp and prevent static.
A Durable Brush and Comb Set Ideal for Detangling and Smoothing
Boodboo crafted this set to ensure that it's gentle on your scalp while getting its job done. No one likes rough bristles hitting the scalp and failing to detangle properly. You can enjoy these soft and gentle bristles on your wet or dry hair.
The addition of the comb gives you a quick go-to eco-friendly haircare set. These come in a reusable cotton drawstring bag and a cute craft paper box as packaging.
5. Bass Brushes - The Green Brush
Materials: Bamboo wood
If you have thick, coarse, and curly hair, you’ll find this product from Bass Brushes useful. The strong widely-spaced wooden bristles target tangles and stiffness, making brushing a bit easier, especially for people with long and thick hair.
Apart from the bristles, the product comes with a unique S-shaped handle. The handle isn’t just an aesthetic decision as it supports your hand’s motion while brushing. You'll be detangling as you brush through your strands while giving your scalp a nice massage.
Great for Thick, Coarse, and Long Hair
This product makes hairstyling a breeze. Whether brushing your hair on its own or while blow-drying, you can get the best use of your hairbrush. It’s durable, sustainable, and contributes to protecting your natural hair.
Shop on Bass Brushes or check the price on Amazon
6. RustiK Bamboo Paddle and Round Styling Brush Set
Materials: Bamboo, beechwood, boar hair
Looking for an eco-friendly hairbrush set? This set from RustiK will make the perfect addition to your collection. Each set you purchase comes with a bamboo paddle, a round styling brush, and a detangling comb.
Made with high-quality bamboo, these products make ideal additions to your daily hair care practice. With the regular paddle brush, you can get rid of tangles and knots.
The round brush makes styling easy, while the comb gets rid of easy knots. With its lightweight nature and beechwood handle, the round brush aids in achieving your ideal style. It’s also heat resistant, making it great for when you blow-dry. You get bamboo round-head bristles with the regular brush, while the round one is a boar bristle brush.
The Ideal Eco-Friendly Set of Brushes
These brushes contribute to a sustainable routine, whether for personal use or gifting purposes. Rather than buying each item separately, RustiK provides you with a starter-friendly kit. To top it off, you get your items in a reusable, travel-friendly drawstring bag to top it off.
The Problem with Traditional Plastic Hair Brushes
Traditional hair brushes are usually made entirely of plastic. As a result, you’ll find plastic as the material for the bristles, handles, and down to packaging.
Additionally, many of these hairbrushes come from cheap, low-quality materials. If you’ve noticed that your plastic hair brush breaks easily, this is why. Since cheap materials mean cheap production costs for manufacturers, they mass-produce these plastic hairbrushes.
As a result, people end up throwing out their hairbrushes more often than they’d like since they break easily. At the disposal stage, your plastic hairbrush ends up in a landfill site at the disposal stage, ultimately adding to environmental pollutants.
Apart from polluting the land, some of these plastic products end up polluting our oceans as well. When this happens, it affects the natural state of the environment and also affects marine life as they feed on plastics.
All of these raise concerns about how we use hairbrushes. As a result, going for plastic-free, eco-friendly hair brushes is a great step to take. Making intentional zero-waste swaps from plastic products to plastic-free hair brushes makes a difference.
What to Look for in Eco-Friendly Hair Brushes
With a wide range of hairbrush brands and products out there, it can be confusing to pinpoint what to pay attention to. There are many options on the market. You’ll also find brands that stock zero-waste hairbrush options. Here are some things to look for when switching from plastic to plastic-free hairbrushes.
Zero Waste Hair Brush Handle
The handle material of an eco-friendly or zero-waste hairbrush is one of the key things to pay attention to. Look out for handles that come from eco-friendly materials. Eco-friendly brushes often feature materials like FSC-certified wood and bamboo material.
Alternatively, many brands also use recycled materials. Bamboo and wood brushes are strong and durable. So, apart from being eco-friendly, they’ll also serve you for a long time apart from being eco-friendly.
Plastic-Free Hairbrush Bristles
Bristles come in many forms. Many eco-friendly hairbrush variants come with natural wild boar bristles. As you switch to a sustainable hair brush, look out for plastic-free bristle options. You’ll also find conscious brands that highlight that their practices are cruelty-free.
However, if you’re looking for vegan-friendly options, there are alternatives to boar bristles. As alternatives to the boar bristle, you can look out for plant-based fibers, wood, or bamboo pins. Also, make a note to avoid bristles with plastic caps. Eco-friendly hair brushes protect the environment and aid in spreading natural oils on your scalp.
Bristle Base
The base that connects the bristles to the hairbrush handle is another area to consider. Many times, this connector comes from plastic material. While shopping, look out for natural materials.
Many eco-friendly and zero-waste hair brush variants come with a natural rubber base. This not only avoids non-environmentally friendly materials like plastics and serves as a cushion to support head massaging.
Sustainable or Recyclable Packaging
Apart from the brushes themselves, also look out for eco-friendly packaging. Sustainable and zero-waste brands often provide an all-around planet-friendly experience. As a result, they often use packaging materials from sustainable sources, including recycled or recyclable packaging. For instance, you’ll often find eco-friendly paper or cardboard packaging.
Conclusion
Your eco-friendly hair care routine just got easier with these eco-friendly hair brushes. No matter your style and preference, you’ll find something that suits your needs. These brushes make detangling your knots easier while having a low impact on the environment.
Jen’s a passionate environmentalist and sustainability expert. With a science degree from Babcock University Jen loves applying her research skills to craft editorial that connects with our global changemaker and readership audiences centered around topics including zero waste, sustainability, climate change, and biodiversity.
Elsewhere Jen’s interests include the role that future technology and data have in helping us solve some of the planet’s biggest challenges.
