6 Eco-Friendly Hair Brushes Not Made of Plastic
Hair brushes make hair care easier and become a regular part of the hair care routine for many individuals. But we hardly think that these brushes are mostly made of plastics that create an adverse impact on the environment by increasing plastic waste after disposal.
What are the Environmental Issues with Synthetic Plastic Hair Brushes?
Well, according to Gran View Research the global hair brush market was valued at USD 3.8 billion in 2022 and 61.3% of the market is made of synthetic brushes made from plastic, aka from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. Can you imagine how many kg of plastic that would be?
At the end of their life, this plastic end up in landfills and they do not biodegrade. Plus, as the synthetic bristles wear down, they can release microplastic particles that end up on your scalp and ultimately enter our waterways and ecosystem in general.
Awareness about plastic-free and eco-friendly products has developed in recent times so people are looking for eco-friendly sustainable hairbrushes for daily use. Plastic-free hair brushes can take care of air dryness, hair breakage, and split ends while minimizing the negative impact of plastics on the environment, as they are shipped in eco-friendly packaging.
Why Buy Natural Hair Brushes?
As mentioned above, choosing natural hair products instead of synthetic ones is first important for the environment because you can home compost these brushes at their end of life avoiding them to decompose into microplastics.
Secondly, it’s also important to make the switch for your health. Bamboo bristles – or bristles made of organic natural fibers – stimulate your scalp and your hair follicles leaving you with healthy, shiny hair. In fact, a part from brushing your hair, these products also give you a healthy head massage and help you avoid frizziness, breakage, dryness, and split ends. Studies shows that among humans’ biological matrices, hair has the highest exposure to microplastics.
What are Sustainable Hair Brushes made of?
The handles of eco-friendly hair brushes are made of materials sourced from the plants like FSC certified wood and bamboo. Natural bristles can be made of boar or horse hair. Vegan brushes would use bamboo pins or bristles made of plant-based fibers like tampico, agave etc. All these products help significantly to reduce waste by avoiding fossil-fuel based plastics in their production process and contribute effectively toward reducing a product’s carbon footprint. They are the perfect accessory for your plastic free beauty routine.
6 Eco-friendly Hair Brushes You Need to Try
Plastic-free hair brushes may seem as unusual, but there are several options already available in the market as the best alternative to conventional plastic-based hairbrushes.
All these products are eco-friendly, and durable, and take care of your hair as desired. These handles, bristles, and bristle bases all are plastic free, and also the packaging is made of compostable and biodegradable materials.
We are providing you with a list of six eco-friendly hair brushes that support various hair types and contribute effectively to your healthy hair care.
This post contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. This helps us continue the hard work we put into researching products and solutions.
1. TEK Plastic-free Wood Brushes – 100% Handmade in Italy
Tek Italy wood brushes are 100% plastic free and made of 100% FSC certified natural ashwood with exclusive designs. They use natural vegetable oil and waxes to smoothen the hairbrush handles.
The flexible, wooden bristles fixed on a rubber pad make hair brushing easier without generating any static electricity. It gives effortless detangling with any type of hair.
They have both short and long bristles to support both short and long hair. The company manufactures products in Italy with all-natural materials as an eco-conscious business practice with a focus on sustainability. They have a B-Corp and a Veganok certification.
Shop on Amazon USA – Canada – UK – Australia
Shop directly from Tek US
2. Redecker Handcrafted Brushes in Germany (i.e. Vegan Brushes Made with Tampico Fibers)
Redecker is a German brand that has been the pioneer in handcrafted wooden brushes made with natural materials. Their brushes help detangle your hair with ease and comfort. They are compact but durable and designed attractively with a waxed beechwood handle and round-shaped hornbeam wooden bristles mounted on a natural rubber base.
This product contains only natural components and is completely zero-waste and sustainable. The packaging is done with plastic-free, recyclable materials as an environment-friendly solution.
Tip: if you are vegan, chose their plant-based tampico fiber hairbrush with oiled beechwood handle like the image above.
Shop on Amazon USA – Canada – Australia
Related: 7 Best Plastic Free Face Wash Brands to Supercharge Your Skincare
3. Shash 100% Pure Boar Bristle Brushes
This brand is a well-known name in the eco-friendly and zero-waste product sectors. One of its most popular plastic-free products is the 100% pure boar bristle hairbrush. Not for vegans, but cruelty-free and zero-waste. Shash have been making luxury hair brushes in a small village in Germany since 1869.
They offer top-quality, sustainable brushes that offer the right alternative to plastic hairbrushes. Their hairbrushes are biodegradable and support the goal of finding zero-waste hair care products. Certifications like using certified FCS wood and the EU EMAS support their sustainability credentials.
Shop on Amazon USA – Canada – UK – Australia
Related: 12 Plastic Free Shampoo Brands You Can Feel Good About Using
4. Bass Brushes Bamboo Paddle and Round Brushes with Bamboo Pins – aka The Green Brush
Bass bamboo brushes come in different designs: with a bamboo paddle, a round styling brush, detangling combs etc. Their sustainable product lines use high-quality bamboo for the handles and the pins which is zero-waste and biodegradable. Please note: we couldn’t find any information if the base where the pins sit is also made of natural materials. The brushes are made either in Germany or in the USA.
The round brush is easy to use with its lightweight bamboo handle and gives the hair a stylish look. Their brushes have bamboo pins that do not melt using a hair-dryer, or use boar bristles. They cater for all hair types.
Shop on Amazon USA – Canada – UK – Australia
Shop on Biome Australia
Related: 10 Plastic Free Sunscreen Brands for a Healthier You and Ocean
5. ZWS Essentials Zero Waste Hair Brush Made of Bamboo
ZWS stands for Zero Waste Store and it’s trusted platform for sustainable brands making a positive impact on our planet. It was launched in 2018 in the USA (Florida) based on the assumption that we must rethink the way we consume.
Their ZWS Essentials product line uses high-quality bamboo and uses its natural properties to make zero-waste hair brushes that don’t contain any plastic components and are therefore compostable at their end of life. The hair brushes have soft bamboo bristles that help detangle your hair conveniently and also message your scalp without hitting roughly. This hairbrush is suitable for both dry and wet hair.
This hairbrush is perfect to include in your zero-waste travel kit. The company delivers the product in a craft paper box which is a great step toward reducing the environmental impact of plastics.
6. Saya Designs
It provides completely eco-friendly hairbrushes made of biodegradable material. The brand offers hairbrushes in different varieties. The vegan hairbrush is made of beech wood and the bristles are plant-based.
The brand uses Tampico fibre, especially for vegan products that have anti-static properties. Another type of brush has natural boar bristles that support the easy distribution of hair’s natural oils and helps in moisture retention to avoid hair breakage and split ends.
As a part of its environmental commitments, the company focuses on making the packaging with compostable material like fully recyclable paper boxes that contain papaya pulp and are printed with vegetable inks.
Shop on Etsy
Related: What is Plastic Doing in my Shampoo?
How to clean Hair Brushes & Combs?
To clean your non toxic hair brushes and combs made of natural materials simply use a teaspoon of shampoo in a shallow bowl of warm water. Submerge the bristles in it for at least 10-15 minutes, but not the handle! If a wooden or bamboo handle is submerged for a longer period, it could swell. For combs, it’s the same, just wash them with the soapy water and use plant-based dental floss to clean the teeth or use a brush & comb cleaner.
Conclusion: Buy Sustainable Hair Brushes that will last a Lifetime!
Conventional hair brushes are cheaper but not durable so people keep on discarding and changing such hairbrushes. At their disposal, these hairbrushes end up in landfills causing plastic pollution which is a serious environmental concern.
As a solution, several companies have come up with zero-waste hairbrush options that help you switch over to a plastic-free bathroom and avoid cheap conventional products.
The hairbrushes use naturally sourced and plant-based materials to design the handle, bristles, and bristle pad that take care of your hair effectively and also help reduce your carbon footprint significantly.
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