Brush rake

In detail

A small handled comb or hooked tool drawn through a brush's tufts to lift out shed hair and lint. A brush maker names it as the first step of its own hairbrush routine, ahead of any washing, and that ORDER is the reason it matters rather than the tool itself. A brush cannot be soaked — the pad, the wood and the adhesive underneath are what fail — so the wet stage has to be brief and shallow. A tuft packed with hair holds water, extends that stage and puts moisture exactly where it must not go. Taking the hair out dry means the wash can be quick, the rinse light, and the drying short. It is the same logic as dry soil removal before any wet method anywhere else: what can be lifted mechanically should be, because everything left behind has to be dealt with by water that the object would rather not have. An ordinary wide-toothed comb does most of it, and on a cushioned pad brush it is worth working with rather than against the tuft rows so the tufts are not levered out of their holes.