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Hair accessories live a harder life than most people realize. A claw clip gets handled every morning, a scrunchie absorbs scalp oils all day, and a barrette sits against hairspray residue, dry shampoo, and humidity. Then they get tossed into a drawer where they tangle, rust, or lose their shape. Most pieces fail from neglect, not from cheap construction.
The good news is that hair accessories are easy to maintain. A five-minute routine every few weeks, plus a few storage changes, can double how long your clips, headbands, and ties stay functional. Almost everything you need is already in your kitchen or bathroom.
This guide covers cleaning every common hair accessory, removing stubborn product buildup, restoring stretched elastics, protecting pearls and rhinestones, sanitizing pieces you share, smoothing materials that snag, and storing everything so it stays untangled and ready to wear.
Why Hair Accessories Need Their Own Care Routine
Hair accessories collect three things that cause most damage: oils from your scalp and hands, styling products that leave a sticky film, and moisture from humid air or damp hair. Oils and product residue attract dust and grit, which work into hinges and springs and slowly grind them down. Moisture attacks metal plating, causing the pitting and discoloration people mistake for rust, and it can seep into adhesive settings on rhinestones.
Materials also behave differently. Acetate, the plastic-like material used in many quality clips and barrettes, can cloud or craze when exposed to alcohol, acetone, or prolonged heat. Metal clips with painted or plated finishes scratch easily. Fabric-covered headbands absorb oils and deodorant over time. Elastic loses snap as it stretches and relaxes repeatedly. Matching your care method to the material is the entire game; the wrong cleaner does more damage than no cleaning at all.
Cleaning Clips, Barrettes, and Pins Step by Step
For most everyday pieces, dry cleaning is step one. Wipe the accessory with a soft microfiber cloth after each wear to remove oil and dust before it sets. For a deeper clean, mix a few drops of mild dish soap into a cup of lukewarm water, dip a soft toothbrush into the suds, and scrub gently around hinges, teeth, and springs. Never soak a metal clip with a spring mechanism; water trapped inside causes corrosion. Rinse by wiping with a clean damp cloth rather than running the piece under a tap, then dry immediately with a towel.
Acetate barrettes and claws can handle the same mild soap solution, but keep the exposure brief and pat them dry rather than letting them air-dry in a humid room. For pieces with decorative finishes or delicate mechanisms, check how they hold up in our longer-term testing of hair clips that survive daily wear. Resin, acetate, and hand-painted clips are the ones to treat most carefully, since their finish is often the first thing to fail.
Headbands get different treatment. Wipe the inner surface with a damp cloth and a drop of soap, then dry. Fabric-wrapped headbands can be hand-washed in cool water with gentle detergent, reshaped while damp, and air-dried flat. Never soak rigid plastic headbands; moisture plus flexing weakens them.
Removing Product Buildup from Metal and Acetate
Hairspray and dry shampoo leave a fine film that is easy to miss until the clip starts to feel tacky or slip. For metal, a diluted dish soap solution and a soft toothbrush usually cut through it. Use a wooden toothpick to work residue out of hinge crevices and spring coils, where a brush cannot reach. Rinse with a damp cloth, not a stream of water, and buff dry.
Acetate demands more caution. Alcohol, acetone, and ammonia-based cleaners will dull or dissolve the surface, so stick with lukewarm water, mild soap, and a microfiber cloth. For stubborn sticky patches on acetate, a paste of baking soda and water applied with a fingertip for thirty seconds, then wiped away, is usually enough. Test any new cleaner on a hidden edge first.
Hard-water spots respond to a brief wipe with diluted white vinegar, but keep contact short and rinse well, because acid dulls plated metals over time. If buildup has already discolored a piece, our guide to preventing and removing jewelry tarnish explains the same chemistry. Our explainer on jewelry metals and alloys covers which finishes tolerate cleaning and which do not.
Rescuing Stretched Elastics, Scrunchies, and Hair Ties
Elastic loses its memory with use, heat, and repeated stretching. Before you toss a stretched hair tie, try the hot-water method: drop it into a mug of just-boiled water for about thirty seconds, remove it with a spoon, and let it cool on a towel. The heat relaxes the fibers and helps them contract. This works best on fabric-covered and synthetic elastics, and it can restore enough snap for another few months of wear. Do not boil for long periods, and never microwave elastics.
For scrunchies, the elastic inside the fabric casing is the wear point, and it can be replaced. Open a small seam, pull out the old elastic, thread a new piece through with a safety pin, knot it, and stitch the seam closed. This takes ten minutes and costs almost nothing. Our picks for scrunchies for damaged hair all use gentle, replaceable elastics, which makes them worth repairing rather than replacing.
When an elastic snaps, cuts into your hair, or has lost more than about a third of its stretch, retire it; it concentrates pressure on a narrow band of hair and causes breakage. For sensitive scalps, seam-free designs and hair ties for sensitive scalps reduce both pulling and friction. Rotate several ties rather than wearing the same one every day, and they will each last longer.
Protecting Pearls, Rhinestones, and Delicate Embellishments
Pearls are soft and porous. Wipe them with a clean, damp cloth after wearing, dry them flat, and never use alcohol, vinegar, or ultrasonic cleaners on them. Apply hairspray and perfume before putting on a pearl-decorated clip, not after, and store pearls away from harder pieces that can scratch their surface. A single stray drop of hairspray is much easier to wipe off immediately than after it has cured.
Rhinestones and crystals are usually held by adhesive or prongs. Heat and soaking are the enemies of glue, so clean around stones with a barely damp cloth and dry immediately. If a stone loosens, a tiny dot of clear craft glue applied with a toothpick fixes it. Never toss beaded or stone-set pieces loose into a bag.
Gold-plated and painted finishes follow the same logic: minimal water, no abrasives, and a soft cloth. If you maintain jewelry already, the same habits apply here, and our home cleaning guide for safely cleaning jewelry is a useful companion for pearl and metal pieces.
Sanitizing Shared Accessories
Anything that touches scalps should be cleaned between users, especially clips, headbands, and combs. For bare metal, a wipe with a 70 percent isopropyl alcohol pad works well, then let it dry completely. Do not use alcohol on acetate, pearls, painted finishes, or glued rhinestones, because it can cloud plastic, dry out pearls, and weaken adhesive.
For shared fabric items like scrunchies, a hand wash in warm water with gentle detergent is the practical option; machine washing accelerates elastic breakdown, so if you do use a machine, put the item in a mesh laundry bag on a delicate cycle and air-dry it. For shared combs and brushes, remove hair after each use and wash weekly in warm soapy water, then dry bristle-side down.
In group settings such as dance studios or schools, keep a small pouch of communal accessories for loaners and reserve your personal pieces for yourself. That one habit prevents most sharing-related hygiene problems.
Materials That Snag Hair and How to Smooth Them
Snagging usually comes from a manufacturing seam, a chipped edge, or a rough joint rather than the material itself. Run a pair of fine nylon tights or a cotton ball along the surfaces of a new clip; anywhere it catches is a spot that will catch your hair. Fix small rough edges with a fine-grit nail file or a piece of 800-grit sandpaper, stroking in one direction only. For chipped painted claws, a thin coat of clear nail polish over the damaged spot seals the edge until you can replace the piece.
Exposed metal springs and rivets are common culprits. If a spring end sticks out, tuck it back in with needle-nose pliers or retire the clip. Wire headbands covered in thin fabric wear through at the ends, where the fabric wraps around the tips; a small drop of fabric glue closes the gap. Banana clips and teeth-style clips can develop sharp mold seams, and a few passes with an emery board smooths them safely.
The material you choose matters too. Smooth acetate, polished resin, and seam-free silicone are gentler than unfinished metal or sharp-toothed plastic. Silicone-lined clips hold without digging in, and the same materials show up across the anti-slip clip designs that test well for grip. If your accessories are causing breakage, it is often worth checking your detangling routine as well; the combs in our guide to detangling thick hair reduce the mechanical damage that happens before a clip ever goes in.
Storing Accessories to Prevent Tangling and Breakage
Storage causes more accessory damage than cleaning mistakes. A crowded drawer tangles elastic ties, bends headbands, and scratches plated finishes against each other. The fix is simple: divide by type, keep items separated, and give structured pieces room to hold their shape.
Use small zippered pouches or compartment boxes for clips and barrettes, with each compartment holding two or three pieces at most. Keep claw clips open or resting on their side so the spring is not compressed. Hang flexible headbands on a hook or a dedicated loop, and store rigid headbands flat or upright with nothing on top. For hair ties and scrunchies, a drawstring pouch or a divided organizer keeps them from knotting; the same principle behind storing necklaces without tangling applies directly to elastic loops.
Moisture control matters for anything metal. Add a silica packet to the container if you live in a humid climate, and avoid storing accessories in a bathroom where steam is constant. Keep pearl and rhinestone pieces in a soft pouch rather than a hard box, away from chains and claws. A simple rotation system also helps: keep a small tray of the week’s favorite pieces accessible and store the rest protected. When your accessories are organized, they also work harder in your wardrobe, which is exactly how a capsule accessory wardrobe keeps every piece in use.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How often should I clean my hair accessories? Wipe metal and acetate pieces after each wear, and give them a deeper clean every two to four weeks. Fabric items like scrunchies and headbands should be washed every week or two, or more often if you use heavy styling products.
2. Can I wash scrunchies in the washing machine? It is possible but not ideal. Machine washing speeds up elastic fatigue, so hand washing in cool water with gentle detergent is better. If you must use a machine, place scrunchies in a mesh bag on a delicate cycle and air-dry them.
3. How do I remove hairspray from a metal clip? Dip a soft toothbrush in lukewarm water with a drop of mild dish soap and scrub the residue away. Wipe with a damp cloth instead of rinsing under a tap, then dry immediately so no water stays in the spring.
4. Is it safe to use alcohol on hair clips? Only on bare metal. Alcohol damages acetate, painted finishes, pearls, and glued rhinestones. For everything else, mild soap and water is the safer choice.
5. How do I fix a stretched hair tie? Dip it in just-boiled water for about thirty seconds, let it cool on a towel, and test the stretch. This restores synthetic elastics temporarily. If the tie is cracked, cut, or still loose afterward, replace it.
6. Why do pearl and rhinestone pieces lose stones? Heat, moisture, and cleaning chemicals break down adhesive or loosen settings. Keep these pieces dry, apply hair products before styling, and avoid soaking them.
7. Can I share hair clips with friends safely? Yes, if you wipe metal pieces with 70 percent isopropyl alcohol and let them dry between users. Avoid sharing fabric accessories without washing them first.
8. Which materials are gentlest on hair? Smooth acetate, polished resin, silicone-lined clips, seam-free elastics, and satin-covered bands are the gentlest. Rough metal edges, exposed springs, and tight, thin elastics cause the most friction and breakage.