I worked for a dentist for years. We constantly wiped everything down with alcohol--the counters, trays, chairs, etc.--everything that couldn't be put in the autoclave.
Alcohol was created to kill germs and whathaveyou and was used for only that for a long time. It won't kill *all* germs but if it's good enough for a nurse to swab my skin w/it b4 giving me a shot, i'd think that does a pretty good job of killing 'wee beasties.'
If you'd like another method to sanitize your makeup brushes, you could make a solution of 1 pint of water to 2 drops of household bleach. That's a tad stronger than what's used in hospitals to kill germs (to make water potable, a person would add 6-8 drops household bleach to a gallon of water and wait half and hour, or longer, before use). It would my suggestion you let your brushes soak a long time.
Another way to clean your brushes: one of my teachers in public school used to wash her hairbrushes and combs in a solution of dish detergent and ammonia. She let them soak half an hour. She said it removed all the hair spray build-up and got them very clean.
Login using the form on the top of the page to post feedback (if you are a registered user). If you have not yet registered, click here to do so. It's FREE!.