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Hi folks, just got the Thater 4125/0 in 2 band silvertip. Out of the box the bristles are stiff, great for face lathering I thought. But when it gets wet it loses all backbone and it is impossible to generate a 'egg white' frothy lather. Plus, if I go back for a second pass on the brush the lather has dissipated & I have to reload to get any lather. When it dries it gets stiff again.
Is this normal break-in for a Thater? About 7 shaves in on this brush...
thanks
Joe
I don't know what type of brush you are comparing it to but it will never have the stiffness of a boar brush. Badger brushes will feel different between being dry or wet.
I don't think there is anything wrong with the brush. I think you are not loading enough soap in the first place and have too much water in the mix. Try using just a damp brush and loading longer on the puck of soap. Add a bit of water to it as you build lather on your face by dipping just the very tips in water. If you are using a cream same thing, damp brush with a bit of cream on the tips and go from there.
Bob
Yah, I use a brush that is almost dry. Swirl on a hard puck of soap until it looks good and loaded (almost cream like) and then go to the face. Then it behaves like a cream. I've incrementally added water until the whole thing just thins out, never gets to rocky lather like my other brushes.
When I use my Omega black best badger or Simpson Superbadger I get the rocky, persistent lather.
I also have a 25mm two band Thater. Load it heavy with product and gradually add water until you reach your desired consistency. The tips will get softer over time. I really enjoy my Thater brush
Man, that is really strange then. Maybe try adding a bit of water after your normal loading and load some more before face lathering.Quote:
Originally Posted by joeuke
Bob
I have three Thaters a 22mm, 23mm and 25mm. I load all of them with a fairly dry brush and then add water as I build the lather in a skuttle. As feltspanky said, I load them pretty heavy. They will hold a lot of soap and I'll add a little more water about half way through the shave when I'm doing my normal 3 pass shave. Love my Thater brushes.
Thäters do not need any sort of break in as Thäter does not trim the bristles, thus leaving the tips as thinly worn as they were on the animal. They are also very dense, so if you add too much pressure while lathering the lather will go right up the knot and stay there until you rinse it out.
I have only noticed a very slight difference in the feel of the brush within the first maybe three uses as far as feel. So, I agree they really do not need any break in.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pithor
They certainly do hold a lot of soap.
I'm wondering how wet you're getting the knot to "lose all backbone"? I've had 4 Thaters , hoping to find one that was scritchy (no luck) and all of them had backbone to beat the band ....... when wet and loaded with lather. Try, as recommended by others, to just wet the tips of the brush, don't soak the entire knot. That is something I've been doing only recently and I'm liking the results a lot more than when I used to douse my brush.
I have the 4125/0 4125/1 and the 4125/2 two band. All of them load like crazy and are very soft with plenty of backbone. My experience is to only use the tips when loading the brush. I face lather with only the tips, hardly putting any pressure on the brush doing paint strokes. Slowly add water as you build the lather. Hope this helps!
OK, I think I figured what was going on.
The brush is so dense that it takes WAY more soap to fully load.
I work the face a bit then re-wet the brush, load more soap, back to face and voila- fully loaded brush.
Good for second pass too.
Still dries out pretty stiff despite extended rinsing...
Yea, like most said, a dense brush holds a lot of soap and is easy to under load. Glad it worked out for you. They are all a bit different.
Bob
As to the break in question ...... I've had brushes that I didn't like that much when I first got them, but I continued to use them in a rotation with others. I can recall finding that with some of them, I began to like them a lot after I had used them a number of times. I suppose they may have been 'breaking in' , but since I didn't use them often, I didn't notice the gradual improvement. So as to do they break in ? I can firmly say .... maybe. :)
Some soaps cause the brush tips to dry stiffer than others. I usually run my hand across the bristles after the brush dries when using these soaps and the stiffness goes right away.
Have fun
Quote:
Originally Posted by joeuke
I find the current crop of two banders like the Thaters and the Simpson Manchurians tend to dry stiff like that. The original true two banders really don't have but a trace of that and my Plisson HMW doesn't exhibit it at all.
Like Lynn says just a quick brush with a finger and it goes back to normal immediately.