Thread: why wash and dry brush between shaves?

Im not trying to argue, i have trouble communicating via text sometimes so i hope im not comming off badly. Im the inquisitive type who has to know everything and ask more questions than i probably should.

You have piqued my interest pontiacfieroguy because it was stated by a self styled expert on a radio show I heard some years ago that an unwashed shaving brush will last longer and stay conditioned longer than one which is rinsed, he said nothing about bacteria. I didn't know what to think of that at the time so I carried on rinsing the brush anyway. Having read your post I googled the subject and within the first few pages of information it is clear that handwashing with bar soap gets rid of germs not because the ordinary soap is anti-bacterial but because it loosens the grip bacteria may have on your skin and the water sluices it away and down the drain. You can happily grow bacteria on soap (but you sluice it away again next time you wash) therefore it will grow on a soapy brush its the sluicing that counts. (Antibacterial soap is different).

Originally Posted by pontiacfieroguy

Im not trying to argue, i have trouble communicating via text sometimes so i hope im not comming off badly. Im the inquisitive type who has to know everything and ask more questions than i probably should.

I'm not taking it that way & asking questions is perfectly fine, people will answer them or they will not.
I just don't think that you will peek the interest of members to test your theory on brushes.

Wasn't there a thread about not rinsing you brush, can't find it.

I want to see a test with someone lathering up a badger and see if it likes to be rinsed off or not.

Sorry, not me,,,,,,,,

Reading much of the info available on the web, mentions nothing about getting Dermatitis, from a "dirty" brush

I found this for you, besides all the info contained here on SRP that is way more exact in nature about care of your brush

3 Ways to Care for a Badger Shaving Brush - wikiHow


In the end however it is after all your face, your brush and your soap, so ultimately it is your choice

Originally Posted by Lemur

Wasn't there a thread about not rinsing you brush, can't find it.

Quite a while back there was a thread started by Roadkill discussing a quote from a James Joyce on nocturnal shaving that mentioned not rinsing the brush:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...l-shaving.html

Roadkill Wrote:
I was rereading James Joyce's Ulysses and came across this passage. OK, Joyce may not be for everyone, but this discusses shaving in turn-of-the-century Ireland:

"What advantages attend shaving by night? A softer beard: a softer brush if intentionally allowed to remain from shave to shave in its agglutinated lather: a softer skin if unexpectedly encountering female acquaintances in remote places at incustomary hours: quiet reflections upon the course of the day: a cleaner sensation when awakening after a fresher sleep since matutinal noises, premonitions and perturbationns, a clattered milkcan, a postman's double knock, a paper read, reread while lathering, relathering, the same spot, a shock, a shoot, with thought of aught he sought though fraught with nought might cause a faster rate of shaving and a nick on which incision plaster with percision cut and humected and adhered: which was to be done."

"Joyce may not be for everyone" NO Kidding :<0)

This thread reminds me of the joke about a guy that couldn't smell very much and had an itchy butt.

-Just back from a three day trip,had my soap (p160) forgot to pack my brush,mush some on my face, work it in with my fingers, worked just fine.
Shaved tonight, Left my old dried out brush on the shelf in the shower,some warm water,she was as good as new.

Gents:

Badger brush needs to be rinse off every single time you use them. Like you rinse off all the soap you use in your body every single time you take a bath. It prolonger the life of your brush. All Brush makes say so and for experience I say so too.'

thanks
Ken