Thread: Introduction, Thanks and Shave Brush Care

Frist of all I am new to the group. My name is Damon I've been using a disposable Dovo Shavete for about two months now and love it.

Recently my aunt gave me my grandfathers old straight razor she kept and I have been learning about all the up keep to the vintage type razors from reading the forum and talking to some of the guys at clasic shaving as well as an email from Lynn.

I want to say thanks to all who have helped and I may need to get that razor to you Lynn to look at it for me, I think it just needs stroping and I haven't bought one yet want to try it first before I send it.

The site has been a great help. But I can't find anything on the site about any care for your shave brush accept rinse with hot water shake out and dry. I'm using a Boar Bristle type but Is that it? I mean if you spend $85- $100 dollars on a badger type brush I would think you would need to condition it or somthing?

Just curious,
Damon

That's it. Rinse with hot (not scolding hot) water and shake it dry. Now you can leave it to air dry until your next shave. For a nice explanation of "leave it to air dry", see http://groups.msn.com/thewetshaversg..._Message=12617

No, most of the old vintage stuff was pretty good, as is. Now a days we tend to think that everything needs preping, formatting, building, oil changing, brushing, blowing, or some such. With a brush you should let it dry hanging upside down. That can require a stand (although I used one for a decade and didn't have any problems). The water can leak back into the brush and the bristles can fall out, some day waaaaaay out in the future. Additionally, you may want to shampoo it a few times at first to get rid of the "wet dog" smell. Just using it with shave soap/cream solves most of those issues pretty quick.

That's pretty much it. You may need to shampoo the brush every now and then to get the accumulated soap scum out. I used to have to do this, though I've been going for about 6 months now with no soap scum buildup. I've been using Harris soap pretty exclusively, though, so maybe soap scum is more of a shaving cream thing...

Thanks guys for the input I guess all I have to do now is buy my suplies and dive into it.

Well, some guys argue you don't need a stand because the water is not going to seep into the handle if you just shake the brush well. This is based on science and is what I have been doing with a badger brush for a few years without any harm. I do not think either side can prove the other one wrong in the dabate stand / no stand (upside down / regular). I also do it with my boar. By the way, for some reason, when the boar dries its bristles bloom a bit funky, not like my badgers, which bloom beautifully and evenly.

I think I heard somebody using conditioner on a brush and tried it on my boar. Did not seem very different from just normal shampoo. Ask around for this though as I am a newb too

Cheers
Ivo

I thought about that [ Hair Conditioner ] but I didn't want to ruin my brush.

I just had a thought, you know I think the mug soap already has some conditioners in it Duh. So maybe thats all it needs is to be rinsed ad hung upside down.

Damon

Don't worry at all about hanging it upside down. I have had only 3 brushes, one boar (my first from the mid-60s) and another boar from the mid 70s, and a badger from the early 80s. I have hung one upside down only because someone gave me an antique shaving stand/mirror w/ a brush holder, otherwise I stand them on end and they all dry just the same.

Welcome to SRP, BTW. Also, I like the hat.

Thanks Dennis for the info

Thanks for the hat complement it's a Stetson called The Dealer when I bought it had to order from Stetson through Sheplers. I've owned it for about 15 years here is the link to the hat now its called there Royal Flush fur felt hat.

http://www.sheplers.com/cat.cfm?TID=079025

Thanks for the link. Most of my hats were bought years ago when I could get a nice fur felt in the $40 range. They've tripled! Of course so have my pipes and tobacco (cigars after the boom are more like 5 - 6 x), etc., etc. The only thing to have gone down is shelter. Of course that's after returning home to Indiana after years in NYC, Boston and L. A. Our mortgage payment isn't much more for our four bedroom house than our rent was in Boston 23 years ago as newlyweds in a tiny walk-up apartment. I should mention that I grew up in this house and inherited a third share in it.