Thread: Best brush for creams and soaps

Do I need a different brush for soaps and creams? I've read somewhere that a silvertip badger brush isn't the best for soaps. Could someone recommend me some quality brushes for soaps and creams?

That is a hard question to answer because I don't think it is that cut and dried. From personal experience I have used boar, badger and synthetic brushes with creams and soaps with good results. So i don't think you really need a different brush for soaps and creams.

Find the brush that has the qualities you like in a brush. Just the right amount of backbone and scritch, right softness in the tips and the right size.

Bob

Go for a Boar brush.
I recently bought an Omega boar brush on ebay & its become my brush of choice .
I face lather & the brush has loads of backbone which really helps to massage the lather well in & lift the bristles.
I don't soak it I just run it under the tap ,shake gently , then massage into the soap.
It builds a fantastic lather that is good enough for 3 passes if I wish.
best of all it only cost me about £8.50 fantastic value.It has made my badger brush redundant.
Cheers Paul

Here's the truth, as men 75 years ago would have told it, and I think it's still the same....any brush will work...it's a matter of preference and your technique. I have Parker (2), Semogue (2), Muhle, Simpson, Aramis (free with a mug and after shave) and "no name" and they are a variety of boar, pure badger, best badger, silver tip badger and synthetic. They all work if I "work" them and the soap or cream. True some are scritchy and some are "whippy" but I just adjust my technique and enjoy the experience (or grab another one).

My dad, who would be 96 had one brush the whole time I was aware, and I used to like to tickle my face with it when I was a kid (I'm a senior now). It worked for him with the bar of Ivory soap and a Gillette DE which he "adjusted" by loosening it a little bit to expose more blade for closer shaves.

I don't think there's any real answer to your question. Pick one of each if you want and try them out in different soaps/creams. I bet they'll work if you work them....and they'll change as they break in and you get used to them with your water and soap/cream.

As a general rule, hard soaps need a bit more work to load so backbone is more important. Sure you can get a boar or badger/boar mix for this but also a custom badger can be set at the required loft for it to have the backbone to load soaps as well as creams.

It then becomes a question of preference for soft or scritchy as well as considerations such as knot size and handle shape.

I have several brushes but I don't rotate them according to the soap or cream I use. You can get equally good lather with any quality brush no matter the critter or sub-type. Some might take a tad longer to build the lather but in the end they all work.

I used the same el-cheapo Tweezerman for 4 years, on every kind of soap and cream with excellent results, before being gifted a beautiful custom badger brush that I enjoy using immensely. It's true that any brush will create lather. If you get BAD, you can spend all the money you want chasing the perfect brush for each application, and many do. Let us know what you end up with.

Alex,
The silvertip badger will work with soap as well as cream. I use nothing but silvertips, and I use both soaps and creams. My brushes all have medium backbone, dense knots and silky soft tips. As to your main questions of what's the best brush for soaps or creams, such a brush does not exist as long you have countless opinions on the subject.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I have several brushes but I don't rotate them according to the soap or cream I use. You can get equally good lather with any quality brush no matter the critter or sub-type. Some might take a tad longer to build the lather but in the end they all work.

This is my experience as well. Another difference may be the amount of product one soap needs versus another, due to size.

I prefer Badger over boar but have both types.

In general a brush with more backbone will be a bit easier to use on hard soaps ( boar, horse, black badger, etc), but as people have said, anything will get the job done.