DIY Brush Cleaner with UV LEDs

If you use brushes on a regular basis, you've probably been annoyed with how long it can take to dry the bristles. This project uses a small fan to help dry up to 9 brushes at a time. We even added Ultraviolet LEDs to help sterilize and disinfect the bristles.

Most people aren't aware that brushes used for cosmetics actually need to be sterilized to prevent bacteria from growing on bristles. 

Ultraviolet photons harm the DNA molecules of living organisms in different ways. In one common damage event, adjacent thymine bases bond with each other, instead of across the "ladder". This "thymine dimer" makes a bulge, and the distorted DNA molecule does not function properly.

Our UV/UVA 400 nm LEDs causes distinct mutations in bacteria and enough UV light will kill bacteria. UV light is often used to sterilize equipment and even water.

Double-Ended brushes

We also solved the problem of damaging double-ended bristles. A detachable ring holds variable sized brushes and allows you to easy push brushes in from the side via a slit with out fraying the bristles.

Muti-Material Design

The ring holder is dual printed in PLA and NinjaFlex, so the flaps can easy bend to accommodate different brush sizes. The ring securely snaps into the grooves on top of the box.  It can even hold two brush at a time to maximize space on the brush box.

Prerequisite Guides

We suggest walking through the following tutorials to get a better understanding of LEDs and soldering.

This guide was first published on Oct 12, 2016. It was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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