Thread: My new brush is shedding

About 7 or 8 years ago, when they were still in Somerset, Simpsons had a run of shedders. A lot of guys on the shaving forums were complaining about them and got replacements. The company was very small in terms of workforce at that time, and the problem was traced to a relatively inexperienced lady who had taken over the knot installation while the regular employee was out sick. They got it straightened out.

There was also a run of brushes that had split, or bent, ends on the bristles. I don't have personal experience with that, but DrP, the renowned Simpson collector, told me about it. The bristles, he said, were very nearly abrasive. Beyond scritchy. Point being, stuff happens. Adding to what thebigspendur said, it isn't as if the makers have a consistent supply of badger bristle that is exactly the same from batch to batch.

As in the tobacco pipe world, material is batch graded. IOW, what might be a Super or a Finest badger in one batch, could be a Best or a Heritage in another. Rooney (Lee Sabini) hasn't been able to get the Finest bristle in years. If he could I'm thinking he would.

What you gotta do Jimmy is like the Mink ranches. Raise badgers and keep them in a cold environment and keep them well fed and you'll get the best hair in the world and can charge premium for that.

When you gonna start?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

What you gotta do Jimmy is like the Mink ranches. Raise badgers and keep them in a cold environment and keep them well fed and you'll get the best hair in the world and can charge premium for that.

When you gonna start?

As soon as the snow comes to South Florida I'll be in business ........ thanks for the heads up Nelson , I never would of thought of it if you hadn't mentioned it ......

Originally Posted by Neckbone

Next you'll be telling me it goes into heat !!

If it does, let me know. I'm very lonely.

Neckbone,,, there's a good chance that the shedding is due to stress,,,,, yes, badger brushes can become stressed out & start dropping hairs. If you are using cheap soaps like Williams & VDH all the time,,, not giving them a warm rinse after the shave, then just tossing them on the counter after use,,, this causes stress on the badgers.
You should always use a good soap or cream, warm rinse, shake, fluff ,, then shake & fluff again,, then hang them upside down to dry,,,, also have at least 3 brushes in your rotation , so they get a few days off inbetween lathers. The leaves you with a happy badger that does not shed.

In relation to the shedding problem I ran into a hidden problem connected to lather making and shedding. Like a few of the members, I build an uber lather and maintain it on a daily basis, adding product as I go from day to day. Had this latest batch going for about a month and for some reason decided to dump it and start a fresh cycle. First, let me say I have new boar, new badger, new horsehair and synthetic brushes as well an a small number of vintage in the same range. I don't use the same one two days in a row, making it difficult to pin down the culprit of what I found. I went to clean out the bowl and found I needed to really scrape the bottom strongly. Up came an interesting mat of old lather holding hairs from all the brushes together in a gooey mess, that is all but the synthetic. I think I will be re staring an uber on a more frequent schedule from now on.

I would rather have one that loses a few hairs once in awhile than one that smells like it came from the part of the badger that went over the rock last. Fortunately I have only had 1 of those and the stink finally subsided. As for losing hairs I have only had 1 and it was a very cheap starter brush. It didn't take long before it was bald. You just have to use it till it drops unless you bought one from somebody that stands behind their products.

I recommend you to dry the brush by 'palm stropping' after using it.