Furminator for people?

October 18, 2012 2:09 PM

Is there any particular type of hairbrush (or other trickery) that will help me shed my hair in a controlled manner? Like a furminator, for people?

I have straight longish hair, and lots of it. It sheds constantly, but I'm not experiencing hair loss or thinning. I shed throughout the day, and always lose a giant clump in the shower while washing and conditioning - enough to clog up the drain mid-shower.

I brush my hair several times a day, hoping that loose hair will stick to the brush instead of falling out all over the shower, apartment, work, etc, to no avail. I use an ordinary drugstore paddle brush.

Is there some other type of hairbrush that is especially good at catching loose hair? Or some other trick to getting it out in one fell swoop? My vacuum, shower drain, and boyfriend will thank you.

posted by twoporedomain to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

Best answer: I have thin, fine hair but LOTS of it. I use a oblong shaped, wide barrel boar's bristle brush and it does the trick. I live in the US and bought it at my neighborhood Rite-Aid for around 7 bucks.
posted by floweredfish at 2:16 PM on October 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you're using a paddle brush with plastic bristles, I'd recommend switching to one with boar bristles, or a boar/nylon mix. It's helped me immensely.

I splurged on a Mason Pearson Popular Mix which I would marry if I weren't taken, but there are other great options--Spornette and Denman are excellent.
posted by padraigin at 2:18 PM on October 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

I couldn't figure out why every roommate I've lived with constantly clogged the shower drain with hair, when I (of the perpetually thick-haired) had never done so in my life.

And one day I realized that it's because every morning while I'm having my wakeup pee (sorry, TMI), I lean over and give my scalp a brisk massage and shake out my hair. (I don't know why I do this, I just always do this.) (Also, there is generally a lot of hair on my bathroom floor, but I'm good about cleaning it up as it appears so I've never really noticed that, either.)

Anyway, what results is that all of my close-to-dropping-out hair gets agitated and shaken free first thing in the morning. I rarely shed in the shower (only if I've been sick recently), and I rarely shed throughout the day.

That said, I've been using the same (brand, style) of hairbrush my whole life. This one. It is really, really wonderful. Any time I have to use any other brush (even high-end fancypants ones) it makes me sad.
posted by phunniemee at 2:34 PM on October 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

For the shower, you can get something like this - if your drain allows, you put it in like it shows in the picture; if not just turn it upside down over the drain and it will work just fine. That should fix the shower drain problem quickly.

Make sure to finger-comb (or use a regular, wide tooth comb) in the shower when you have conditioner in your hair - that's when most of my extra hair comes out.
posted by insectosaurus at 2:40 PM on October 18, 2012

Best answer: GIRL. You need a boar (or boar/nylon) bristle brush IMMEDIATELY. That paddle brush won't do shit for you as far as this goes.

The Mason Pearson is expensive, but you will use it for the rest of your life. I would literally save mine in a fire. It is the one beauty item that I think lives up to the hype. But Spornette makes a good, cheaper brush too (I have a smaller Spornette that I also use).
posted by Countess Sandwich at 3:13 PM on October 18, 2012 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Well, now I just feel silly. Thanks for your answers, the boar bristle brush seems like the clear consensus.
posted by twoporedomain at 4:47 PM on October 18, 2012

Boar bristle brush and Grandma's 100 strokes before bedtime.

Watch your hair SHINE!
posted by BlueHorse at 9:36 PM on October 18, 2012

A Tangle Teezer does the job well on my curly hair; I don't know if it'll work as well for straight hair.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:21 AM on October 19, 2012