Thread: Brush Selection Guide?

Originally Posted by 10Pups

And My Black badger holds more water than I could use to shave a horse .

Beautiful...I know have this mental image of a man dressed like a Rodeo Clown chasing a (very worried) horse around a corral with a lathered up BB brush in one hand and a SR in the other!

Trying to create a chart to allow someone unfamiliar with shave brushes to be able to pick one for themselves is next to impossible for all the previously mentioned reasons but a valiant effort anyway. Just as there is no real standard in nomenclature for various badgers and different types of boars, there is no standard quantitative scientific measurement of stiffness/backbone, softness, water retention and exfoliation. Then there are the omitted types, mixed boar/badger and synthetics. I really don't think desirability should be rated either on the basis that brush performance has little to do with price but more to do with what works for the individual using the brush. In the end I think you just have to try a succession of different brushes to find one that suits you the best as they all seem to produce a good lather with the right technique. I wish it was as easy as just looking at a chart and picking one.

Bob

I think desirability is a bit subjective, but maybe level of luxury, or luxuriousness might be more appropriate, maybe.

Yea, that is exactly the problem in describing most qualities of a particular shave brush, it is all subjective.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Yea, that is exactly the problem in describing most qualities of a particular shave brush, it is all subjective.

Bob

I reckon selling a gift voucher might be better.

Originally Posted by 10Pups

And My Black badger holds more water than I could use to shave a horse .

Surely a horse would be self lathering, just get it wet and rub it against a shave stick.

I with the others. Many of the categories are subjective to the point I wouldn't want to be giving it as advice to a rookie. The same with the desirability thing. Many couldn't care less about what you call desirability. To some a Surrey brush for 5 bucks is highly desirable. Also lathering ability I don't think really improves with badger grade and the ability to hold water I think is the same with any quality badger brush.

It's a good college try but I think, back to the drawing board.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's a good college try but I think, back to the drawing board.

Ok...I'll get back in my box!

Originally Posted by hollowground

Beautiful...I know have this mental image of a man dressed like a Rodeo Clown chasing a (very worried) horse around a corral with a lathered up BB brush in one hand and a SR in the other!

Sometimes I go big with my analogies.

From the view of a rookie that knows nothing about brushes, my main curiosity is the types of hair used. Until looking through the forum, my only brush knowledge was that the supermarket sold artificial hair brushes and badger ones. And even then I wondered if the supermarket badger brush was some form of imitation badger hair. So to glean a bit of info on horse and boar was something I found quite useful. In regard to the varying types of badger, I confess that when it comes to that I'm more likely to go by either price or personal recommendation of a specific brush.