I used my very first badger brush today. The brush it's self is very soft. the shape is exactly what i wanted. Now when the brush got wet it became very soft. I tried it with hard soap first and it took me a long time to work up and load up the brush. A long time. But when loaded the lather was better than I have had before. the brush went from very light to heavy as lead in the hand. I made 3 passes so i lathered 3 times and still had a brush full of soap. it was great. When i was through i rinsed the brush in very warm water and shock it out in the tub. after this it felt almost dry and the shape was like it hadn't been used. Now this was a cheep brush. 15.00 at wally world. I may be looking for a little better grade now.