Thread: My Brush is Shedding Like Crazy

BobH: I love the softness of the badger hair but since I can get a good boar's hair for not too much I'll try one of those as well. It won't hurt having 2 good brushes on hand. And I'll be able to compare textures side by side. I don't have experience with brushes besides the one I have now so I really can't say what my preferences are.

Originally Posted by KevinV

I do have another question. I've been looking at your initial recommendations and really like the looks of the Simpson Commodore X3. I've found them sold on several sites but have found 2 variations of the same brush.

Both say "Best Badger X3" and underneath that have a gold seal. However, inside the gold seal one of them says…

Simpson
Made in England
Sterilized

…and the other says…

Simpson
Hand Made
Great Britain

That second one also says "Commodore" on the reverse side. The first one doesn't have a picture of the other side so I'm not sure if it says it too.

Any idea why the difference? Is one normally an export version and the other for domestic sales? Was there a design change and someone's just still got some NOS?

Thanks again.

I believe Simpson brushes labeled "Made in England" date from when they were made in England. The Simpson brushes labeled "Made in Great Britain" are the ones now made on the Isle of Man after Simpson was taken over by Progress Vulfix. The Isle of man is not part of England but is a crown possession so is part of Great Britain. That should be about the only difference.

Bob

Originally Posted by KevinV

It's an Escali purchased through Amazon.

Don't throw it away,,, you can use it to dust off or lubricate your firearms,,,,

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Don't throw it away,,, you can use it to dust off or lubricate your firearms,,,,

If there's any hair left by the time the new one gets here.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Don't throw it away,,, you can use it to dust off or lubricate your firearms,,,,

Or keep it around in case you might want to try removing the knot and putting a new one in to rehab it sometime down the road.

Bob

Let's not overlook many of the fine and economical synthetic brushes available

Originally Posted by Phoenix51

Let's not overlook many of the fine and economical synthetic brushes available

Yes, yes, an excellent point, thank you. Muhle and Edwin Jagger, two synthetic varieties I have used, are fine choices.

Originally Posted by Phoenix51

Let's not overlook many of the fine and economical synthetic brushes available

For sure, they are currently my favourite brush knot material. I have used Muhle STF brushes and have also used inexpensive synthetic knots from China to make up some brushes. Believe it or not, the cheapie Chinese synthetic knots worked very well.

Bob

Originally Posted by KevinV

BobH: I love the softness of the badger hair but since I can get a good boar's hair for not too much I'll try one of those as well. It won't hurt having 2 good brushes on hand. And I'll be able to compare textures side by side. I don't have experience with brushes besides the one I have now so I really can't say what my preferences are.

Sounds like a good plan to me as you really have to try a few brushes to see what you do like in a brush. Be aware that a boar brush will be stiffer than a badger brush and initially not have soft tips. The boar brushes need about 2 weeks of every day use to break in before the tips flag and you get softness in them but the knot itself will always be stiffer, more backbone. You may also have to adjust your loading and lathering technique as boars don't retain as much water as badgers do. No biggie once you figure out how. Good luck in search

Bob

At some point in your wet shaving journey you will want to try a synthetic brush. These are great brushs for thirty bucks. You may even have a store in a Mall located nearby. Cade Shaving Brush Plisson | L'OCCITANE en Provence | United States