Thread: Simpson's Chubby 1 in Super Badger shedding?

Just tried out my new Simpson's Chubby 1 in super badger this evening. It used about half a puck of CS brand vanilla shaving soap before I realized I overloaded it and it removed 14 layers of skin from my face, but other than that, I thought it was a fabulous little face scrubber. Not an everyday brush, but I do like it a lot.

I noticed it lost about 5 or 6 hairs. I soaked it for about 6 minutes straight out of the box before lathering up. I know those knots are pushing the bounds of how much hair can be wrapped in a small brush knot, so I am not concerned, but I would feel a bit more at ease if anyone else has noticed the same thing. My other "premium" brushes (a Dovo Silvertip and a Shavemac buffalo horn in silvertip) have never lost a single hair, and I've read that Simpson's QC has fallen off what one would expect in the last few years. Wanna make sure I didn't pick up a dud. After finding out Georgetown sent my shaving scuttle to Afghanistan instead of Germany today, I don't think I can handle too many more shaving disappointments...haha

The Chubby series is an extremely densely packed range of brushes and a few loose hairs at the outset is more the norm rather than the unexpected. Don't be at all surprised if a few more hairs are shed over the next few uses. The brushes are generally combed through at Simpson before leaving the factory but in view of the number of hairs in a Chubby knot, there will still be a few loose hairs.
Some recommend shampooing a new brush and combing it through yourself before first use. I personally just use it. I have a Duke 3 Silvertip that's well over a year old and still the odd single hair sheds to this date.
Just monitor the shedding. If it persists indefinitely then you may have a defective brush. Simpson's Customer Service is exceptional though. In the event of a possible replacement needed, first contact the vendor. If that fails, then Mark Watterson at Simpson, I am sure, will put things right.

Now that's what I like to hear. I know firsthand what the consequences of mass production can be when it comes to QC. It just happens. It's a nature of the beast. If someone is there to make it right, then I am more than happy to patronize the business. Simpson is a top name for a reason, and the Chubby is a standard in our hobby for a reason, so I am glad I got it and definitely glad to know that I'm not stuck with a 185 dollar frowny face if it falls apart tomorrow.

I had a high end brush, not a Simpson, that shed what I considered more than normal. I notified the vendor and he said to use it for 3 months and if the shedding continued he would replace it. I saved the shed hairs and at the end of 3 months had over 100. He replaced it.

I used the replacement for a year or two and it never shed a hair. Then I lathered a puck I had grated to put in a container. The surface was a bit rough but I didn't think anything of it. Subsequently that brush began to shed like 10 hairs every time I used it. Far more than the one it replaced.

This went on for months and months. No telling how many hairs it lost. It finally stopped shedding and even with as much as it lost is still plenty dense. I'm not sure how many hairs are in an average shaving brush but it is thousands.

If it continues to shed at a steady rate I would contact the vendor, but I wouldn't worry about a relative few hairs.

I have a Chubby 3 in the old 2 band and when I first got it, it lost a few hairs initially. After several uses it shouldn't be releasing anything except for maybe a hair now and then, more then than now.

Average 24mm knot has about 10K individual hairs.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Average 24mm knot has about 10K individual hairs.

So if the average brush has 10K hairs then how many hairs does the average badger have? Mr Smarty Pants-har har.

My emperor 2 has been my daily brush for almost two years. Maybe it's lost two or three in that time.

Michael