Thread: 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?

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?

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.