Dear KarlaSugar,

I got a Tweezerman lash comb, and it worked great at first… but the more I used it, the more dried mascara started clogging it up. The comb teeth are so close together — how am I supposed to clean them?

Great question! I ran into the same issue myself. But knowing (or believing) that Tweezerman would replace my $7 investment made me bold, and after extensive experimentation, I think I have an answer.

Having tried almost every solvent in my house, the best solution/method was pretty unexpected. The stuff that got my lash comb the cleanest? Hot water and toilet paper (and my method is purely mechanical rather than chemical).

First, you can clean some mascara off your comb immediately after using it (this will save you the trouble of having to clean it off later). Just fold a piece of two-ply around the tines, and wipe clean (you’re not trying to pull the tines out, and they’re pretty firmly attached. “Regular” wiping won’t hurt your comb).

Most mornings, I’m on the verge of being late for work, so I don’t necessarily have time to clean all my tools before I leave. But when I get home, I just run the tines of my lash comb under hot water — this loosens the dried mascara — and then I wipe again with the toilet paper.

By now, the “flat” of your lash comb (the sides) will be mascara-free, but there’s probably still some trapped between tines. Now comes the moment of genius. While the mascara is still “warm” from the hot water, insert the edge of a toilet paper square between the tines and then draw it out. It pulls the mascara out with it, leaving your comb completely clean and perfectly effective for tomorrow’s use.

I recently purchased a metal lash comb — an object I didn’t even know I needed until I got one. The results have been so earth-shattering, I had to tell you about it.

To begin at the beginning, a spoolie is the technical name for a mascara wand. I have a spoolie that came in a gift-with-purchase brush set from Estee Lauder, and I (formerly) used it to clean the clumps out of my lashes after applying mascara. I’d apply 1-2 coats of mascara, then run the clean spoolie through the same way, hopefully separating the lashes and wiping out any clumps. The problem was that the spoolie tended to push my lashes out of the way (up), instead of combing through them.

So I got smart. I grabbed my plastic eyelash comb (which I normally use for brow grooming), set the spoolie at the base of my lashes (underneath) and trapped my lashes between spoolie and comb, pulling the brushes forward together to comb out my lashes. I felt very silly and it worked okay.

My makeup-loving friends kept insisting that a metal lash comb was in a category of its own, and though I didn’t totally believe them, I picked one up at Ulta anyway.

The metal lash comb is basically a row of sewing needles, mounted in a plastic handle. The needle-shaped tines insert between lashes like a dream, and actually push between them, instead of just moving them out of the way. It also cleans out clumps like gangbusters.

Previously, I’ve thrown away my mascara when it got so clumpy that application wasn’t worth the hassle, but now that I’m lash-combing, I feel like my mascara could last… forever?

The Tweezerman lash comb is $7. Tweezerman suggests cleaning the tines with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, and if a tine should ever fall out, they’ll replace it for free. One more hilarious note: the packaging warns not to use this product without a mirror.