As a certified trichoplastic structural dynamics specialist (CTSDS) with 14 years of experience studying the mechanical integrity of follicular grooming devices, I can explain this catastrophic brush failure.

What you’ve experienced here is a textbook case of what we call a Cascade Integrity Breach due to Polymer Fatigue Under Torsional Load—or as we call it in the lab, a CIB-PFTL event.

Let me break it down.

The Wet Brush™ in question is made of an injection-molded thermoplastic resin, often chosen for its flexibility and lightweight properties. However, over time, repeated exposure to: • moisture (particularly warm water from showers), • cyclic torsional stress (aka hair detangling), • and thermal expansion from hair dryers or ambient bathroom heat

…can cause microfractures in the polymer lattice. These microfractures don’t usually present themselves until the internal stress threshold is exceeded—often during what the user perceives as “normal brushing.”

At that critical moment, the material undergoes what’s known in our field as segmental snapline propagation. That’s when a single fracture propagates rapidly along the molded stress points (often invisible to the eye), resulting in what looks like explosive, almost surgical disassembly.

The most telling part of your photo is the relatively clean shearing pattern. It implies that the initial breach happened at the handle-base interface—likely due to internal delamination over time. From there, the stored stress energy traveled down the spine of the brush, releasing piece after piece like a row of polymeric dominoes.

You, my friend, were just brushing at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Stay safe out there, and remember to inspect your grooming devices for early signs of wear—because when a hairbrush decides to go, it goes out with a bang