Thread: Simpsons Manchurian .. What's the fuss?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Classic two band was never in great supply and only a very few makers had access to it. Simpson, Rooney and Plisson are the only ones I've seen.

I'm told it's Global Warming. The animals simply don't produce that hair anymore. The Manchurian is an attempt to get hair the closest to it.

Thats pretty much what Mark said, the two band super was hard to source and not always from the same supply, so you could have different knots depending where it was sourced.

Simpsons source the manchurian hair from a single place so the feel of the hair should be the same, well, as much as it can from an animal.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Thats pretty much what Mark said, the two band super was hard to source and not always from the same supply, so you could have different knots depending where it was sourced.

Simpsons source the manchurian hair from a single place so the feel of the hair should be the same, well, as much as it can from an animal.

Interesting - then the old Polo 10 Super Badger I posted is essentially the same knot as the Manchurian?

Originally Posted by Phrank

Interesting - then the old Polo 10 Super Badger I posted is essentially the same knot as the Manchurian?

Not necessarily if what Spender said said in post #29 is true and I have no reason to doubt that it is. It could be better than Manchurian, you never know. You'd literally have to get a Manchurian knot of the same size, loft and density and do a personal comparison.

Bob

Originally Posted by Phrank

Interesting - then the old Polo 10 Super Badger I posted is essentially the same knot as the Manchurian?

I had a Chubby 2 Manchurian from the Somerset days and I used to say that you could remove the chrome from a trailer hitch with it. I love scritchy brushes but this was moreso than any I have ever encountered. So much so that I found a new home for it.

I have a Chubby 3, and a Polo 10 Manchurian from the 'new' Isle of Man Simpson. They are not as scritchy as the aforementioned Chubby 2, but they are great brushes. I feared that when Somerset sold the factory it would be the end of the great brushes, but they've carried on in the tradition of the original Simpsons I'm happy to say.

Of the Somerset Super Simpsons the only 2 I now have are a Polo 8, and a Persian Jar 3. Both are delightfully scritchy. All of these are 2 band brushes. As someone mentioned, they source the bristle in batches. So it is not likely that all Supers, Manchurians, what have you, will be identical, but I think they are holding to a high level of quality regardless.

Illustrating the batch point, I had a Simpson (Somerset) Best grade. I can't recall the model, but it was 2 band, and had bristle equal to a Super IMHO. I shouldn't have sold it but was thinning the herd. Something that I'm apt to do every so often.

The Manchurian and old two banders are totally different. I have a few of them. A Simpson Chubby 3 and a Rooney Best and a Plisson HMW. I don't find the two band to be scratchy at all. They are soft and yet have great backbone and enough pressure on your skin to feel great. I've never used it on on my face without lather though.

Many of the qualities of the old two banders are shared by the Manchurian. It's hard to really describe. In a sense they are similar but in another totally different.

I guess the Manchurian in overall feel is closer to standard silvertip badger than the old 2 banders. Kind of like a silvertip with attitude.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I don't find the two band to be scratchy at all. They are soft and yet have great backbone and enough pressure on your skin to feel great. I've never used it on on my face without lather though.

Arghhh ! That is where I made my mistake ! ..........

Kidding aside, I used to have a herd of Rooney Finests, Simpson Supers (all 2 bands) and sold most of them. The funny part being that I described them to the buyers as 'scritchy', and to me they were. Four out of five of those guys didn't find them scritchy at all. Not that they complained, I asked them after they had them awhile. I can only assume, and be thankful, that I have sensitive skin, therefore, what ain't scritchy for a lot of guys is scritchy for me.

See Jimmy, that's all them years walking those steel girders with all that wind in yer face.

Yea, that is the trouble when describing a brush and how it feels. Everyone see it slightly differently. Good thing we are not all the same.

Bob

Interesting - had my shave tonight with the Polo 10 Super Badger, and BigSpendur describes the Simpson brush I have exactly, lots of backbone, but silky smooth on the face, no scritch - light years different than my M&F - the only brush aside from a boar I have as having lots of scritch but the badger feel on the face - the M&F keeps raising the bar for me.

Well, I had to find out what all the fuss was about for myself ... I had an itch that needed scratching!

Here's the result. A Simpson M7 Manchurian, purchased from a kind member here. Virtually unused ... still has the badger smell. My favored handle shape and in a fan.. Just beautiful. So far, feels like my favored Simpsons two band, but, it'll take some time to get to know her ..