Thread: Problem with qualitiy brush

Wow, and here I thought it was me.
I washed the brush well in dish soap.
It has an odor, but probably is a mix of shave and dish soaps.
I tried working up a lather in my scuttle, being more generous than usual with the soap, and could only get a fair lather.
The lather coating on the back of my hand was thin.
I used the old cheap brush in the scuttle without adding soap and beat up a bit more lather.
After rinsing everything, then tried the old brush with the usually results of over flowing lather.
The silver tip is like a wet rag. Has trouble loading with soap and beating a foamy lather, plus delivers a thin lather to the face.
Now, maybe I can trim the scratchy bristles out of the cheap brush for more comfortable face contact.
Imagine dropping $150 for a silver tip and getting these results.
I have a "super badger bulb" knot that maybe will produce better results when it's handle is finished.

Update.
This afternoon's test lather was misleading.
I used the silver tip with tonight's shave with much better results. It made a decent lather in the scuttle and laid a nice layer on my face.
The difference was cleaning it with dish soap. The soft mushiness of the bristles was not a concern and offered a comfortable lathering.
So, hopefully it's on the way to delivering nice shaves.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

Originally Posted by Anthony1954

Mmmm interesting, I have a large Silvertip that I got from Frank Shaving used it maybe 20/30 Times and it still has problems with lather. Washed it with dish liquid soap then later with borax still gives me problems. Sorry to be no help I'll watch this thread with interest.

Hello Sir, mind if I ask which brush you have ? I've been eyeballing his 28&30mm "chubbies", but am leery of his silvertips. I have one of his cheap, $30 ST's, and it has no backbone. One the other hand, I have one of his chubby best badgers that I absolutely love. Just trying to figure out is the ST ones are worth it. Thanks in advance.

If you are using a hard soap. Preparing it properly beforehand can make a big difference. I use a layer of hot water (the hottest the tap water can get) on top of the soap while I am taking a shower. After the shower I dump off the layer of water and add one more layer while I dump off the excess water from my brush that was soaking in cool water before hand. Dump off the recent hot water on the soap and go to town. You should find it easier to load then.

When I get a new brush I use baby shampoo. I feel dish soap is a lil too rough. JMO

Fe Fi Fo Fum I see a lot of bad barbers tales here.

Brushes are like straights. In the right hands any quality brush will produce copious amounts of lather. Yes, some are more challenging and require some more finesse to get there but in the end you should be able to get all the lather you want from the hardest soap in the world and a cream puff of a brush.

To me brush differences manifest themselves in how the brush feels on your skin and the sensation you prefer and of course the handle too.

Now this is a true story...really.

I knew a guy who trapped a badger and was going to make his own brush from scratch. The only reason he was able to catch the critter was because he had just been thoroughly sprayed by a skunk and the poor fella was beside himself and was easy to catch. Well, even though the hair was cleaned and the odor neutralized apparently the scent contains a variety of powerful chemicals and no matter how many times he washed the brush or what he used it seemed to just repel water and break down soap. Maybe there is some commercial product out there or some back-woods alchemy that works but he never found it. He uses the brush for display.