Thread: My new brush is shedding

I have two brushes (knots) that I made handles for.
One is a Super Badger Bulb and the other is a Silvertip Std XH.

The Silvertip is shedding bristles after each use, while the Suoper Badger is doing great.
I thought shedding was a 'cheap' brush problem.

Is this just a bad knot, or some kind of normal?

Badgers moult during Spring, in readiness for Summer. I wouldn't worry too much, your brush should start growing a nice new set of bristles around September/October

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

Badger brushes have thousands of bristles. I've had shedders that seemed as if they would never stop, losing 5 to 10 hairs per shave. One of them did that for a good year with using it maybe once per week. One day it stopped shedding and never did again (knocking on wood). Looking at it you'd never know it shed the first hair. Others, from what I've read, will shed until there is a noticeable loss of density. All you can do is ride it out and see what happens.

I had a vintage Century brand Pure Badger brush that I used daily as my one and only that was obviously a far better brush than the other 16 vintage brushes that I have collected.
I admit to storing it resting on its handle end. I thought I had rinsed and dried it well enough that not hanging the brush in a brush holder would be OK.
For a little over two years it very rarely shed even a single hair. Then it started to shed a few and within a week or so it started loosing clumps of hair.
Now I have a replacement knot ordered to fit the old imitation ivory handle.
I have also ordered a brush holder as I wonder if improper storage was the reason for the demise of the brush.
Also, of note, is the fact that although it was labeled as Pure Badger the new knots that are available that are of the same quality and color are at least Best and maybe even more likely Silvertip knots.
Has the grading system for Badger hair knots and brushes changed over the years?

Originally Posted by Galaxy51

Has the grading system for Badger hair knots and brushes changed over the years?

pixelfixed can probably answer that question more accurately than I can, but, AFAIK, there is no standard grading system between one supplier and another. Some call their highest grade Finest, Super, HMW, and what have you. The names for the different grades in the pecking order seem to be at the whim of the manufacturer.

What Jim said,is really no grading system.some are better than others.

Badger hair comes from a relatively small animal and there are only so many areas of the body that contain only so many types of hair.Probably depending on the climate all the hair can vary and maybe depending on the location the animal resided in that can change things too. The best bet is buy from someone you can count on so you know you will be getting a quality brush and if there is trouble you will be taken care of.

Having said that back when I was in High School I used to work part time in the garment Industry in NYC specifically where they made Fur Garments mostly mink and I can tell you that even though there too it's a small animal and in theory you have male pelts and female and everything else should be the same but it ain't. There is tremendous variation in the pelts from density and color and overall quality which probably was dependent on every imaginable variable in the animals environment and in that case most minks are raised on farms so I can imagine with a wild animal the variables can be more extreme.

Originally Posted by Neckbone

I have two brushes (knots) that I made handles for.
One is a Super Badger Bulb and the other is a Silvertip Std XH.

The Silvertip is shedding bristles after each use, while the Suoper Badger is doing great.
I thought shedding was a 'cheap' brush problem.

Is this just a bad knot, or some kind of normal?

You probably just got a knot taken from an animal with a nervous disorder and MPB. Get a subscription to "Hair Club for Men" and treat it on a daily basis

A brush brand can easy change the bristle "provider" to save some money
He will not say it nowhere,the brush has the same price but with less cost
The customer buys from him because he trusted him after so many auctions but suddenly he sees his knot shedding or open having no backbone at all.
The poor customer buys again because he thinks that was just an accident but "he step on it" again
Then the trust is gone,the customer make his complains in public and the brand looses much more money than the money that he saved shifting the badgers provider.
Soon or latter the shavers will notice the difference in the quality
When many shavers make the same complains in different places then the problem is real and you can count any more on this brand.

Even a Ferrari can show-up a problem so why not a brush ?
Can happened to anyone,if the problem is continuous a serious brand (like Vie-Long speaking from my experience) will have customer care attitude to solve it.