Thread: They All Look Alike ....... Sorta .........

Yup. I shaved this morning with my d01. I never knew what scritch was, based on experience that is, but now I know. It's a very luxurious feeling!

Well your theory sounds good phrank. However, my knot is a 30mm with pretty decent loft, still pretty scritchy.

Originally Posted by prodigy

Well your theory sounds good phrank. However, my knot is a 30mm with pretty decent loft, still pretty scritchy.

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Oh man....you're the 30mm guy....I for the life of me can't imagine using a brush that size, I admire you, and it just further's Jimmy's point of how each of us experience knots differently and how our taste's differ.

When I had that Polo 3 M&F brush, 31mm knot and a 55mm loft, I was just gobsmacked the first time I lathered that puppy up, all the soap in my scuttle just disappeared, and after lathering the first side of my face I lost vision, as my entire head was covered in a 3 inch thick layer of uber lather.

You must think I'm crazy with the small diameter knots and under 50 loft, to you I'd be lathering with my Pinky finger....I thought the Simpson's Polo 10 Super Badger was a huge unwieldy beast, but that 31mm M&F made the Simpson's weep and run away in fear.

Can you expand, what are the qualities about the big brushes that make them your preference? I'd love to hear what qualities you look for, maybe I need to expand my horizons a bit...this is the thread for it...thanks.

Originally Posted by Phrank

........

Oh man....you're the 30mm guy....I for the life of me can't imagine using a brush that size, I admire you, and it just further's Jimmy's point of how each of us experience knots differently and how our taste's differ.

When I had that Polo 3 M&F brush, 31mm knot and a 55mm loft, I was just gobsmacked the first time I lathered that puppy up, all the soap in my scuttle just disappeared, and after lathering the first side of my face I lost vision, as my entire head was covered in a 3 inch thick layer of uber lather.

You must think I'm crazy with the small diameter knots and under 50 loft, to you I'd be lathering with my Pinky finger....I thought the Simpson's Polo 10 Super Badger was a huge unwieldy beast, but that 31mm M&F made the Simpson's weep and run away in fear.

Can you expand, what are the qualities about the big brushes that make them your preference? I'd love to hear what qualities you look for, maybe I need to expand my horizons a bit...this is the thread for it...thanks.

Well that's a tricky thing to pin down. My first brush was a cheap parker I think. I still have it, but it's too floppy. Only works with creams, and not that well. My second brush, a Thater, was great. I really liked it, but it just didn't perform as good as I thought a brush should. Then I bought a 30mm HMW from wsp. Andrew made the handle. It's a great brush too, and I use it a lot. Then my M&F came. Blew me away completely. It just explodes lather, like how you described haha.

It could also be my very hard water. Normally I don't use my tap water, but recently have been with good results. I think the larger brushes hold more water and more soap. This allows me to build up enough lather to not have it all dissappear in 30 seconds.

I guess I just like bigger brushes for the same reasons people like 8/8 -10/8 size razors, they are cool in my mind.

Originally Posted by prodigy

Well that's a tricky thing to pin down. My first brush was a cheap parker I think. I still have it, but it's too floppy. Only works with creams, and not that well. My second brush, a Thater, was great. I really liked it, but it just didn't perform as good as I thought a brush should. Then I bought a 30mm HMW from wsp. Andrew made the handle. It's a great brush too, and I use it a lot. Then my M&F came. Blew me away completely. It just explodes lather, like how you described haha.

It could also be my very hard water. Normally I don't use my tap water, but recently have been with good results. I think the larger brushes hold more water and more soap. This allows me to build up enough lather to not have it all dissappear in 30 seconds.

I guess I just like bigger brushes for the same reasons people like 8/8 -10/8 size razors, they are cool in my mind.

Here is the Plisson HMW size 14 that I kept alongside of a couple of Simpson Manchurians that I didn't keep, because they lacked the scritch

;

That Plisson has a 25mm knot, and a 60mm loft, yet it is scritchy as they get. I don't use it much because it is so big, but the genuine horn handle is so beautiful, and the scritch so good, that it is a keeper.

Firstly, if you are looking for a scritchy knot, then you may want to contemplate one of the Vie-Long Epsilon 2-Band 27x50mm ones. I have one (Bulb 28.5 x 52mm) and it is quite scritchy, indeed! However, it is a lovely knot! I also have a Shavemac D-01 2-Band Bulb 29 x 52mm that is superb! Some lovely gentle scritch, interluded by lovely softness.
I did go through four of these knots to eventually realize how great they are, and surprisingly, this one is the largest and lowest-lofted one of the bunch! The scritch did task awhile to subside to a manageable level, also.

I may have to conclude that these Shavemac D-01 2-Band knots might just be the best overall knots, in my opinion. However, I still love variety.
Epsilon is in the first photo and Shavemac is in the second.

Celistino, both of the brushes in your pictures have a nice bloom. My 22x46 D01 2band knot doesn't spread beyond the circumference of the handle it is embedded in. I'm at work so I cannot provide a picture. I'll ask again, anyone have a suggestion how I might facilitate the blooming of the knot?_

What do you guys define as scricth? To my understanding that is the prickly feeling from some thicker hairs mainly the black hairs in the knot.
I personally do not like that but I like the scrubby feel of a knot, that is something I get from CH3 Manchurian knots, and to lesser extent from my M&F brush.

Originally Posted by mainaman

What do you guys define as scricth? To my understanding that is the prickly feeling from some thicker hairs mainly the black hairs in the knot.
I personally do not like that but I like the scrubby feel of a knot, that is something I get from CH3 Manchurian knots, and to lesser extent from my M&F brush.

Scritch is that prickly feeling. I have had a Somerset made Chubby 2 that was so prickly/scritchy that I sold it. The problem was the backbone was so strong, that it made the feeling too much of a good thing.

I had 3 Simpson/Vulfix Manchurians, a Chubby 3 (too big), a Polo 10, and an M-7. None of them were scritchy. I still have the M-7, because I like it anyway, but I sold the other two. I have a Manchurian Chubby 2 that is probably okay (just got it recently) and a Manchurian Tulip 3 enroute and I have high hopes but whether it will deliver the goods remains to be seen.

IME with Simpson Super Somerset made brushes, they were scritchy. I still have my Polo 8, and my Persian Jar 3. Delightfully scritchy with perfect backbone. The balance between backbone and scritch has to be there. If the backbone is too strong it becomes uncomfortable rather than pleasant .......... IME.

Yes, buying a badger knot with the qualities you like can/is a crap shoot. When you do find one hang on to it because duplicating it may not be easy.

I don't know what scratch is in a brush and assume it is a scratchy/prickly feeling when face lathering. If that is the case, I don't want it. If I want that I'll use my one and only horse hair brush.

OTH, I do like good backbone with soft tips for a luxurious massaging feel when face lathering. Especially so considering the price of a good 2 band silvertip brush these days. Or I could save a lot of dough and just use my well broken Omega 10066 boar brush and be done with it.

There definitely is more to constructing a badger knot that consistently gives the same qualities knot to knot and batch to batch than any of use will ever know. I agree that this is where a manufacturer like Shavemac and Bernd Blos comes to the fore and really shines. They seem to have the expertise to do this and on a custom basis to boot.

Bob