Thread: Difference in brushes??

Hi all!

I recently acquired a new (but cheap) badger hair brush, nice and bushy (hair quality was labeled as best), nothing extravagant. I had been using an old (perhaps 20years but not very frequently used?) boar hair brush.

I used to lather in a bowl with the boar hair brush and it made a very nice creamy lather that filled the bowl within a minute or so with out the need to add much water. The badger hair brush cannot do this without a lot of extra soap and water being added. It does however tend to lather directly onto my face rather well.

The 2 brushes are obviously different in a few respects: material (badger v boar), amount of bristle (badger has mush more and or varying thickness whereas the boar seems to have only thicker bristles left on it)

If anyone could tell me what i am doing wrong or if there are some tips/tricks in getting the badger brush to lather in the bowl that would be tops!

Cheers all

PS: currently using RazoRock 888 soap



EDIT:
So it seems I may have answered my own question and it was a water issue... I needed more! Will continue to play with this to get better results.

I was going to suggest more water. I also noticed with a couple of my brushes bowl lathering was harder. Bit more water cured the issue. Glad you figured it out.

Badger hair brushes naturally absorb more water than boar hair brushes thus needing to add more water to get a thick rich lather. It took me a little while to adjust when I switched. Just be careful not to add too much water all at once, introduce it a little at a time.

It's not that the badger really absorbs the water the way a sponge does but rather the badger holds the water unlike a boar brush. So, you could really load up a badger with water and create lather and as you apply the lather all this water starts coming out of the brush leaving you with a watery mess. The amount of water you have within the knot is really important when you use a badger brush so you need to match that with the characteristics of the soap you are using.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's not that the badger really absorbs the water the way a sponge does but rather the badger holds the water unlike a boar brush. So, you could really load up a badger with water and create lather and as you apply the lather all this water starts coming out of the brush leaving you with a watery mess. The amount of water you have within the knot is really important when you use a badger brush so you need to match that with the characteristics of the soap you are using.

There you go, that makes more sense, it holds instead of absorbs.

Thanks for straightening me out on that, been looking at it wrong for too long. I've been doing it right just misunderstood what was happening, appreciate the clarification. Even us old timers learn something new on this site.

Also add in from my experience not all badger is the same naturally. I have two almost identical brushes both rated same hair an they are NOT the same. One holds water much more than the other.

That's very eye opening Rollin... I'd assume some similarity as far as water retention!
Perhaps it depends on the health of the badger it came from? It wouldn't be presumptuous to assume a healthy badger has a healthy pelt.

Originally Posted by andrewmurray86

That's very eye opening Rollin... I'd assume some similarity as far as water retention!
Perhaps it depends on the health of the badger it came from? It wouldn't be presumptuous to assume a healthy badger has a healthy pelt.

I don't know Andrew, and I don't care, because I've never seen a brush advertised or described in any terms that refer to the health of the animal. Mangy badger is not a description I've ever seen.

Please understand I'm being facetious and not poking fun at you (it's 5 am here)....I just think that different brushes holding water differently, depending on knot size, loft and probably amount used (broken in) is the key. I have a fairly new boar brush that improves with every use and a fairly cheap Parker "best" badger that works like a charm every time, and always has, better in fact than a more expensive silver tip.

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

I don't know Andrew, and I don't care, because I've never seen a brush advertised or described in any terms that refer to the health of the animal. Mangy badger is not a description I've ever seen.

Please understand I'm being facetious and not poking fun at you (it's 5 am here)....I just think that different brushes holding water differently, depending on knot size, loft and probably amount used (broken in) is the key. I have a fairly new boar brush that improves with every use and a fairly cheap Parker "best" badger that works like a charm every time, and always has, better in fact than a more expensive silver tip.

I think I would avoid the mangy badger but could go for shaggy badger lol

I am finding with more use my newer brush tends to perform better.

Yeah not sure on why the brushes perform different. They are the same brush with different color handles. Maybe the guy installing the knot had an off day. Who knows. Either way stay away from an mangy badger.

Shaggy Badger sounds like a great band name