The Dreaded Shedding Brush

Hey! I tried to look back through the forum to see if there was a related issue but I could not find something similar. I have been using a Thater silver tip brush for about 6 months now. This brush for me has been wonderful. It makes a lather very nicely, and feels great once applied to my face. Just within the last two weeks however, I have been experiencing about 10-15 hairs of shedding during each shave. It just has me a little worried about maybe a faulty technique. Is this amount of shedding considered normal use of a brush? Below is kind of my routine to see if there is an error in my technique:

Warm my bowl with water. Place the brush in the water (the water level is always below the start of the handle). The temperature of the water varies but it ranges from warm to hot (slight steam from the bowl). After a couple of minutes I begin to create my lather. I try to prevent circular motions (as Thater recommends) but I usually get the best lather this way. After the lather is made, I apply it to my face. While shaving my brush stays out of my bowl and stands upright. After my shave, I rinse the brush under cold water to clean shaving soap out of the brush, and then wring it out and place in a shaving stand brush side down. I use this brush daily, as it is my only brush.

Thank you so much for reading this, and providing feedback. I hope you have a great day!

Not an expert, but it does seem odd that after 6 months of good service that it would start shedding every shave. I would contact the vendor you bought the brush from and see what they say.

I face lather and use circular strokes to load the brush and build lather with on my face. I also use cold water and don't soak my brushes. My routine is so different than yours that I really can't say what the problem might be with your brush.

One of the more knowledgeable members with a routine similar to yours may be able to help.

Bob

It's hard to tell if your hurting it just by what you described, I,m not sure about hot water or if your doing everything right, but I know it would be in your best interest to contact who you bought it from. Losing hairs happens, but not in a big way. And this long after it should have gotten most loose hairs out by now, so talk to them it might just be a bad batch of knots or glue or whatever. Thaters get bad knots too, it's just the nature of the beast, but they should stand behind it. Tc

I had a VP Leon Hardy 700050 large silver tip. Started losing bristles globs at a time, within 3 months of purchase. Losing bristles like that has more to do with workmanship, not technique. Contact your vendor. Mine replaced the brush.

Yes, that is abnormal. Contact your retailer for a replacement.

I had a brush that shed like that and I called the retailer. They told me to use the brush for 3 months and if it continued to contact them again. I had contacted them after about a week of shedding. I began saving the bristles that shed, putting them in an envelope.

At the end of the three months, the brush continued to shed, I sent a photo of the brush with the collected hairs beside it. They replaced the brush. I am just telling you this in case you receive a similar response from the vendor. :gl:

The only thing I see is I never wring out or squeeze a knot. I just shake gently and brush lightly on a dry towel.

Never had more than a hair or two come out of a name brand Brush...Thater or Simpson. But those custom designer home made brushes..that's a whole nuther story...shedding machines !

I have an AoS brush and I'm not very gentle with it. I do almost the identical prep with my brush except for one thing. After I squeeze the excess water, after rinsing the leftover soap out, I vigorously shake the brush in the shower to get every drop out. The motion is similar to what people do with a can of chewing tobacco before they open it. If needed I could video the motion. Wringing the brush in a twisting motion seems bad and not shaking out the excess water may cause an issue. But you let it hang upside down and I just put it on my counter, handle down.

See my thread:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...-simpsons.html

Why would you soak it in hot water prior to the shave? :hmmm:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Why would you soak it in hot water prior to the shave? :hmmm:

---

I do this all the time, soften up the bristles of the brush?

I like the bristles as they are, personally.

Soft,floppy hairs have no resilience. More pressure upon them to make lather. Might cause them to beak-off easily.

I wonder what Thater feels about soaking their brushes in hot water up to the hilt and then standing them up?

I really only leave my brush tips to soak in water, never up to the handle. I've found that if I leave too much of the bristle in the water, it soaks it up, only to release it as I face lather. Which then sends soapy water flying all over.

Water does not hurt your brush. I leave mine in the sink under a running tap. It's soap residue and mechanical abuse of the knot that kill it. When you squeeze or wring a knot your doing it no favors because you are just forcing any residual soap into the base of the knot and your pulling on the hairs where they are epoxied at the base

Moderation is the key. As long as you are gentle nothing bad will happen. I always squeeze the brush as I rinse it and have been doing it for years with no deleterious effects on the brush.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by littlej2455

Below is kind of my routine to see if there is an error in my technique:

Warm my bowl with water. Place the brush in the water (the water level is always below the start of the handle). The temperature of the water varies but it ranges from warm to hot (slight steam from the bowl). After a couple of minutes I begin to create my lather. I try to prevent circular motions (as Thater recommends) but I usually get the best lather this way. After the lather is made, I apply it to my face. While shaving my brush stays out of my bowl and stands upright. After my shave, I rinse the brush under cold water to clean shaving soap out of the brush, and then wring it out and place in a shaving stand brush side down. I use this brush daily, as it is my only brush.

Thank you so much for reading this, and providing feedback. I hope you have a great day!

---

It's a bit strange that it occurs after 6 months of daily use. At least, it would be strange for a production flaw to rear its head after that long.

Its hard to pinpoint the problem, but my guess would be that your water is too hot; being a natural product, excessive heat (over 38 degrees celcius) will break down the natural protein in the hair, if I recall correctly. If you do this on a daily basis, I would not be surprised if your brush develops issues. Rule of thumb: if it is too hot for you, it is too hot for your brush.

Also the wringing probably does not help, as well as the combination with swirling motions.

By the by, I am not sold on the absolute necessity of hanging the brush upside down for drying after a good shake two; capillary action could get the water to the know no matter how upside down you hang it and evaporation does not really care which way around anything is, really.

That being said, I still usually do it. The Thäter people recommend it, and I guess they would know a bit more about shaving brushes than me.

Interesting but unfortunate. I also have a few badgers Thater, Generics like Vintage Blades and Franks shaving and i'm not necessarily that nice to them, Don't hang them upside down or refrain from squeezing them now and then. I dont however use scalding hot water and they haven lost any hairs that Is noticeable. Heat at some point will loosen glue but I don't think it should be that extreme. You might just have a poorly set knot so I would let them know about it.

Thank you so much for the replies! I have just contacted the vender and I will keep you posted. And yeah I am with some of you, I soak the brush tips to soften the bristles. I guess its similar to running it under warm water but saves me time when I am applying my pre-shave oils. :p

Ok, just to follow up, I did contact the retailer and they just sent me a reply. They told me to that some shedding is normal, and is part of the break in process, and that Thater overpack their brushes. That made me feel a little better. They gave me some tips on how to potentially reduce some shedding in the future. They told me to try and not soak the brush if I am using warm-hot water. They also stated to not squeeze the brush after use; they would prefer for me to just shake it a couple times and then hang to dry. I will give this a whirl, but I just wanted to keep y'all updated. Thank you again for all of the posts!

Water might actually hurt your brush IF it's hard water (full of limestone). Similar (maybe not identical) thing happened to someone on a French forum, his brush started shedding after a few months of perfect use. He then tried a vinegar shampoo : dip the brush in a solution of vinegar / water (50/50, or less vinegar) for 5 to 15 minutes, the hairs will be cleaner and softer. Rinse well, because it will smell ! And it worked for him, the shedding stopped. I am not saying this is the panacea, I'm just stating it worked for his Thater brush. ;)

Your technique is very similar to mine and I have not had that problem with my Thater. I also don't abide by the manufacturers instructions on proper care of my brushes as I hard swirl them and wring/shake out the knot. I'm thinking it could be a manufacturing problem. As stated previously, maybe the vendor will replace your brush.

I agree, it shouldn't be shedding. I have 8 brushes in rotation at this time. Even if I travel I still take two. I like a brush to be thoroughly dried out before the next use.
I only get an occasional shed from any of them. BTW I have different grades of Badgers, Boars in my shave den.