There's a Right Way to Clean Your Pet's Brush—Here's What the Pros Recommend (2025)

There are many benefits to grooming your dog or cat. From a wellness perspective, grooming encourages healthy skin and coats, keeping fur from tangling, releasing dry or dead skin on the scalp, and distributing natural oils. Plus, it's a nice way to bond with your fur baby.

A good grooming routine will put any pet brush through its paces—all that loose fur, dander, and oil accumulates. The good news is that it's easy to return your pet brush to a healthy, hygienic state. We asked a professional groomer and behaviorist how to clean a pet brush and disinfect it.

The Best Way to Clean a Pet Brush

The first step to cleaning your pet brush is to remove fur. You can do that by pulling the fur off the bristles with your hands or by running a wide-tooth comb through the bristles to lift the fur. Be sure to capture all the hair and dispose of it.

Wash the brush with warm water and soap. Mieshelle Nagelschneider, a cat behaviorist, recommends hot water and dish soap. "Dawn dishwashing soap removes grease, and it's great for general cleaning," says Nagelschneider. "Cats groom themselves all over by licking their fur so you want to make sure any residual cleaning product that might be transferred to your pet's coat is pet-safe."

Julia Benning, a professional groomer, recommends letting the brush soak if there is a lot of caked-on debris. "Warm water and a gentle soap should be sufficient to keep the brushes clean." Allow the brush to fully dry by leaving it on a toweled surface. "If you can leave it in the sun, that's even better," Benning says.

How to Sanitize a Pet Brush

Soaking your pet brush in warm, soapy water should be sufficient. There are products that professional groomers use to disinfect their tools, says Benning, "But this is really due to the high volume of dogs from different households, with potentially unknown backgrounds. I will say the one time it may be important for pet parents to disinfect further would be if their dog has a skin infection." In this instance, talk to your veterinarian.

Nagelschneider recommends disinfecting plastic pet brushes on the top rack of the dishwasher with a gentle, heat-free drying cycle. High heat may warp plastic or loosen bristles. If the brush has metal parts, wooden handles, or rubber grips (as most do) hand-washing and then disinfecting with diluted vinegar or pet-safe disinfectant is a safer option.

Cleaning a Cat Brush vs. Dog Brush

There's really no difference between a cat brush and a dog brush. It's more about the coat type than the species or breed. Longhair dog brushes can work on longhaired cats and vice versa. Regardless, the cleaning process should be the same.

Brushes with pins will dry faster and be easier to clean than boar-bristle brushes. Rubber curry brushes can be washed much more simply and can be hand-dried without needing to sit out.

Benefits of Grooming

"Think about a Husky in summer," says Benning. "Removing their undercoat with a good bath, blow out, and brush allows the coat to do its job to insulate the dog, protecting the dog from the summer heat."

She says it's also a great way for any dog to build confidence. "Grooming can be confusing for dogs at first, but it gives the dog the opportunity to work through a new situation, overcome their apprehension, and learn how to be successful during the process." Your dog will feel proud of himself and more confident that he can handle novel situations.

From a behavioral perspective, grooming bonds animals closer together. Cats are a species in the animal kingdom that groom one another, so grooming can be particularly soothing. It can also prevent stress in the animal. Cat owners should aim to spend at least 10 minutes of meaningful interaction with their cat each day, and grooming is one of the best ways to do it.