brush smells

I went to an art of shaving store nearby to see what they have to offer and for the heck of it I bought their sampler pack of oil/cream/aftershave with a tiny badger brush (worthless), to try shaving with creams. Good lord that brush smells when you wet it, is that normal? Also I'm trying to buy a good brush, but even the lavender smell could not mask that smell from the brush. I know badger brushes are suppose to hold more water, but are there any other advantages to it and are all there advantages all that good. Is boar hair also smelly, and is synthetic an appropriate substitute, because if that smell persists I'm going to have to go with the synthetic.

That is the oil from the badger. Wash the brush with detergent and let it soak for a couple of hours in soapy water. Smell should disappear.

The smell will go away quick, no need to compromise with a crappy synthetic.

Thanks, I'm online shopping now. I think I want a long handle badger brush so that when I lather I'm not cleaning my hands as much. Any affordable suggestions?

Look at travel brushes. My Muhle from Classic Shaving assembles into a long-handled brush, then breaks down into a nicely packable cylinder with the knot well protected. Other makers have similar models, and might have nicer knots. The Muhle knot is entry-level badger, not as soft as my home brush but it still works just fine. I got the aluminum tube but wish I'd gotten the heavier (and shinier!) nickel-plated brass tube.

You can also shampoo a new brush. Every couple of months I shampoo and condition my daily brush, just to get all the inevitable soapy buildup out of it.

I've been reading throught SRP and so far I'm seeing that to get a good lather with a badger brush is had, apparently because its soft compaired to a boar brush. Any truth to that?

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Originally Posted by Knife

I've been reading throught SRP and so far I'm seeing that to get a good lather with a badger brush is had, apparently because its soft compaired to a boar brush. Any truth to that?

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No, truth at all. Once you learn to build lather you can get great lather from any quality brush. Badger brushes come soft, stiff and in between.

So should I get a stiff badger brush if I want to work primarily in soaps or will a soft brush be just as good and its just a face sensiblity thing?

My Muhle traveler is on the stiff side for badger, buy like thebigspendur says, you can get good lather from anything.

I've read posts from people who found their long-knot badger brushes a little too soft, in fact.

It's all about preference. Soaps or creams, face or bowl, hot or cold.

I can get good lathers under any conditions from either of my badgers or my boar. My boar is a very low-end boar and I don't use it that much. It just doesn't feel as nice on my face as the badgers. But it's good to have when time comes to shave the winter pelt; I can really crank lather deep into what the beard trimmer leaves behind.

Ok, great I'm not worried about getting good lather from whichever brush. So what then should go into deciding the brush. It looks like its just what feels good on the face or is there something else. From what I can see I have to decide on whether I want long/short, soft/stiff, and handle lenth, cause I'm set on Badger.

Knot size is probably the biggest factor. That's the diameter of the knot. There are tiny brushes but I don't know why, maybe for mustache care only. My knots are all between 3/4 and 1"; that seems to be the standard size.

If you're cost-conscious you'll probably avoid the super premium 3-banded silvertip knots.

You said earlier you wanted a longer handle. That's why I recommended the travel brush--it'll give you that, plus it's designed to travel should you decide to break it down and stow it in a bag. Here's a link to some travel brushes. As I said, I got the black aluminum Muhle but wish I'd gotten the nickel-plated brass, as much for the mass as for the looks.

Not all travel brushes will give you that length. Some are, in fact, very short-handled brushes in a matching case. Watch for the ones where the case becomes part of the handle. Dovo makes one similar to the Muhle, a bit nicer probably and a bit more expensive too.

If your town has a store that sells fancy soaps and stuff, or a dedicated knife store, they might have brushes off the shelf, too.

Good luck with your shopping.

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Originally Posted by roughkype

Look at travel brushes. My Muhle from Classic Shaving assembles into a long-handled brush, then breaks down into a nicely packable cylinder with the knot well protected. Other makers have similar models, and might have nicer knots.

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I like that idea of having a long handle, a travel ready brush, and I'm guessing here but with replacable knots. I'd be nice to have that handle and screw on a big badger knot one day and a small boars boar knot the next..... Do you know of the other suppliers? The knot one the Muhle traverler looks a little small.

Looking into silvertip knots, I ran into this websit. Man I need to talk to this guy!

Silvertip — BruceOnShaving.com

If you like big handles, the omega "professional" (10048 is model #, iirc) is spot on. It is bowar hair but the ends are already split and it's super soft (for a boar brush). I got mine locally for 17 but they can be had online for 12-15 dollars. They seem to be in a "marvy" branded box and with a sticker on them of late.
I know a few people that aren't fans of boar brushes who enjoy that one.

For scale, that's the large size bigelow creme with it and a 4oz tub of al's bomb.

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Originally Posted by Knife

Looking into silvertip knots, I ran into this websit. Man I need to talk to this guy!

Silvertip — BruceOnShaving.com

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Wow! There is a man with missionary zeal and encyclopedic knowledge. Thanks for that link!

Sounds like you want a modular brush. That wouldn't be too hard to make, but I don't think anyone's done so yet.

If you're reasonably handy, plain knots are pretty common on the web, and they're much much cheaper than the finished brushes. If your standards aren't too high, you could probably get two or three knots for the price of a brush and hot-glue them to just about anything handle-shaped, and figure out just what kind of knot makes you the happiest. Later, someone can trim off the handle and mount it in something nicer for you.

Here's a good page that also describes the differences between badger grades:
Understanding Hair Grades of Badger Brushes
Thanks Knife for the other page.

Also, don't be scared off of boar brushes. I have a cheap [frugal] Omega 10049 and it works wonders with hard soaps, soft soaps, and creams.

boar brush actually pretty good, especially for coarse beard, I think. I use them all badger, boar n synthetic, now Im planning to get the horse hair brush