First impressions of the Muhle XL 25mm synthetic silver tip fiber brush

I was so favourably impressed with the Muhle synthetic silver tip travel brush I had been using that I ordered their 25mm XL model. It arrived the other day and I have used it several times since.

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On opening the box the first impression I had was man this is a big well made brush with a tall loft. After several uses that hasn't changed but turns out it is a real pleasure to face lather with and have no doubt it would handle bowl lathering equally well. This mornings shave confirmed my faith in the Muhle synthetic silver tip line of brushes. Using a dry MWF puck, cold water and a well shaken out brush it loaded up with MWF with ease. Building large amounts of rich thick and slick MWF lather on my face was just as easy. If it can lather MWF with such ease I believe it will do so with any other type of soap or cream and will find out over the next few days.

How does it feel on the face? It feels deceivingly soft and may be a bit floppy but when you lean into it a bit when face lathering you can feel a gentle bit of scrubbing action. In short I think it has a luxurious feel on the face. The more I use it the more it grows on me. As far as I can tell this is a first version of this brush. I have read that Muhle has introduced a second version with a lower loft, slightly different fibers and a bit more backbone. I may have to try one of those in the 23mm size. I think the Muhle synthetic silver tip fiber shave brush line is a very viable competitor and alternative to all the other types of shave brushes out there.

Bob

Bob, Thanks for the stellar review. I never thought I would try a synthetic brush but you've piqued my interest. I may just look into that 23mm knot with the shorter loft you mentioned.

Did you try the rubbing the first lather in with fingertips yet ? Curious what your impression is on whether that made for a better shave ?

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Bob, Thanks for the stellar review. I never thought I would try a synthetic brush but you've piqued my interest. I may just look into that 23mm knot with the shorter loft you mentioned.

Did you try the rubbing the first lather in with fingertips yet ? Curious what your impression is on whether that made for a better shave ?

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Morning Jimmy

You will have to do some checking to see what the actual difference in loft is between the V1 and V2 versions of the brush actually are and where the V2 versions are currently available. I know Connaught Shaving has them http://connaughtshaving.com/33k252.html and there may be other sellers too. They are a different experience for sure and as a bonus not too terribly expensive in the general scheme of things. If you do try one I hope you won't be disappointed.

Yea, I have been trying rubbing the lather in first and it may just be helping. I will continue to try it out and see where it goes but it seems promising. Thanks for mentioning it.

Bob

Bob, your review was excellent. I have the second version of the Muhle travel brush as well as a 21 mm and love both. I use it for creams, as I do most of my silvertips, and it works quite well. Yes, this is a good brush to have and well worth the money. It does not have a strong backbone, agreed, but the tips are as soft as an angel's kiss.

Hey Obie

Thanks, you know I think the tips are comparable to my Simpsons Manchurian badger brush in the softness department. An angels kiss is an apt description of the softness. Glad I am not the only one impressed by Muhle's synthetic silver tip fiber brushes.

Bob

Today I used it with Musgo Real cream for an explosion of rich thick slick lather. I would say creams are a piece of cake too. Tomorrow will be a go at a Williams puck which usually supplies a barely acceptable lather with my other boar and badger brushes.

Bob

Bob, I use the Muhle with creams only. All my silvertip brushes are used mostly for creams. The boars do the job on soaps. A force of habit, I guess. Since I use mostly soaps these days, the boars get a good workout. The Muhle comes up in a few days with Valobra — well, it's a soft soap with similar texture to cream.

Morning Obie

Yea, convention has boars being used with hard soaps and silver tip badgers with creams for sure and that does work. I use all my various brushes with soaps and creams and they seem to work OK. Some better than others depending the combination. I am starting to think that these Muhle silver tip synthetics will work equally well on hard and soft soaps as well as creams. Sort of a brush for all occasions with a couple of advantages over the traditional knot material. If you were looking for a one brush solution at a moderate price these might be an answer. Starting to think I could live with just one of these and get rid of the rest as it's performance seems consistently excellent across the range of shaving soaps and creams I use. Of course that is not as much fun as having BAD but may be an very viable option for those who want to go that route.

Bob

And a good morning to you, Bob:

Yes, that would make an all around brush. For me, an all around brush is my 24 mm Thater silvertip in the octagonal handle. I don't remember the identification number. I've had the brush for three or four years and it's been perfect from the first day. By the way, I don't remember if I mentioned the Muhle synthetic fiber travel brush. I have it in the aluminum tube and love it. Anyway, I'm quite impressed with the Muhle synthetic fiber V2, and it's reasonably priced, too.

Going to have to get a Muhle V2 to try out. For me the price point puts it ahead of my SOC 2 band badger or Simpsons Manchurian badger for an all all round brush and it is not a lot more than a boar either.

Bob

Indeed, Bob, the Muhle V2 will impress you immensely. It's a few grades above the V1 in every way.

Today's soap was Williams which the brush just ate up and produced large amounts of fine looking lather. That was the best performance using Williams of any brush I own. The whole thing was spoiled by Williams usual habit of wasting away once applied. The Williams she go bye bye today and the brush stays as a definite keeper.

Bob

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Originally Posted by Obie

Indeed, Bob, the Muhle V2 will impress you immensely. It's a few grades above the V1 in every way.

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Just emailed the supplier I bought the brush from and they confirm that the XL brush I bought is a V2. I did some further searching and found that the loft on the V2 XL is supposed to be 62mm which is the measured loft on mine. So the good news is that I do not have to buy another brush to see what the V2 is like. No wonder this is an impressive brush. The more that I use it the more I am convinced that I could easily live with it being my only shave brush.

Bob

Today's soap was a Palmolive shave stick and the brush easily produced large amounts of rich, thick and slick lather. All my other boar and badger brushes will lather all the soaps and creams I have but none of them will lather all the soaps and creams I have as easily as this synthetic sliver tip. For me it is a no brainer all a rounder par excellent.

Bob

today i used my muhle silvertip fiber 25mm brush...it produced a large amount of lather...much more than i usually get from natural badger brushes. i bowl lathered and the bowl just was overflowing with palmolive lather.

i also liked how this brush didnt stink like a wet dog....like all my new badger brushes usually do.

Yea, the new synthetics seem to be very efficient at producing a good lather quickly with little fuss. If you like the feel of them on your face you are off to the races. People seem reluctant to try these new synthetics which are worlds different from the old nylon ones. Even old line makers like Plisson have one in their line up and Simpsons will introduce their first synthetic shortly too.

Bob