The invention belongs to the technical field of production methods for hydroxyethylcellulose and particularly relates to a method for refining the hydroxyethylcellulose. The invention aims to solve the technical problem that a method for refining the hydroxyethylcellulose is required to be provided, the method is simple and convenient in technologies, and an obtained product has high quality. The method for refining the hydroxyethylcellulose comprises the following steps of: neutralizing, crosslinking, washing, filtering, drying and crushing, wherein a neutralizer used in the neutralizing step is inorganic acid. By changing the variety of the neutralizer, the continuous production can be performed by the method for refining the hydroxyethylcellulose, the whiteness and free-running property of the product obtained through processing are high, and the stability of the product is higher. In addition, a production line is continuous, so that the production efficiency of the production line is greatly improved, the operating labor intensity of workers is reduced, the essential safety of the production line is improved, and the consumption of energy sources and raw materials is reduced.