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This is one of my favorite brushes and its getting a bit ratty looking. Should I trim it or just live with it?
Attachment 259336
Or is this normal? I used to be a bit tough on my brushes. I face lather but dont work much but the top third of the hairs.
i wouldn't trim it as i believe the softness comes from the natural tapered tip ends. trimming it might change the feel.(not based on any personal experience BTW)
I would highly suggest just leaving it be. If you want a more clean look to it, you can use a rubber band to hold the bristles together after it dries, completely, overnight or for a few hours. This works like a charm. :)
If you like the loft of it you won't really gain anything by trimming and as mentioned you will loose the softness of the tips. If the brush is too floppy and you are not happy with the loft the. A you can use a rubber band or steam the knot out and set the loft deeper.
First, try a vinegar soak and shampoo.
About an ounce of white vinegar in a cup of hot water up to the handle of the brush. Soak for 15-20 minutes.
Rinse in warm water and shampoo with a dollop of hair shampoo in the palm of the hand.
Dry thoroughly and see how it blooms. As said if you want more body, a rubber band or O ring at the base will stiffen it up.
Treat the hair as you would treat wild & uncontrolled human hair. Clean it with a procedure like Euclid440 gave you,,, then treat it with a good conditioner such as Pantene;
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get rid of it and buy a new shavemac Do1 2 band and problem solved Tc
,,,,,,,:rofl2:
Now TC ! that's his favorite brush.
If it's your favorite brush, don't trim it. Just enjoy it as is.
Well, i havent dont any cleaning or shampooing so i'll give that a try. I wasnt meaning to trim the tops of the bristles but just the ones hanging off the sides. Its dring out in the pic and not quite as bad but when wet it has 15 to 20 hairs hanging out the sides. Guess i will leave it be and clean it. I like the way this boar feels but i can always use another brush right? 8 isnt enough for anyone person. Ha. Thanks guys.
not if he used the Shavemac!!!! TCQuote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
Looked into those shavemac's. 150 buck for a brush. Beyond my brush budget. Maybe some day but right now i'll stick to what i got.
I am with Gasman. I would love to get a Shavemac, Simpson chubby or Savile Row 3824. I have no doubt they are great brushes, both in appearance and performance. But are they ten times better than a well broken in $15 boar brush? At what point are you shelling out big bucks for bragging rights rather than performance?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gasman
yes they ARE, or put it this way are your hones worth what you pay for them? hummm is one stone worth so much more than another??Quote:
Originally Posted by RayClem
they are that much better, I have lots of brushes from cheap to expensive, and there is no comparison, I,ll stick with the better grades. just like my razors or yours, what makes one better than a POS gold Dollar? Tc
by the way gasman, how much you got in your stones and now equipment just to work on them? more than if you just bought a razor and had it honed and then just shaved.
Your right TC. No dought about that. But arnt those badger brushes? I do like a well broke in boar more than badge. Enjoy a touch of scrub in my brushes. Are you saying these badgers are like a mroke in boar? You got my enterest up. I went as far as buying a badge knot that cost me 63 bucks once. The mancherian? Its nice but not as nice as a boar. What say you?
Give me your honest opinion. I know you will. :) thats one of the thing i like about ya. You speak your mind!
From a price to performance ratio pov it makes no sense to me at all but there is more to it than that. I get as good a lather from my inexpensive boar brush as my Shavemac but the feel on the face is totally different. An expensive badger brush is a luxury item with all the baggage that it brings with it including bragging rights. Necessary, no, but nice if you want to pamper yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by RayClem
Bob
Thanks for the reply Bob. So in your opinion, you are saying that the shavemac feels softer and not as much scrub? I havent found my be-all brush just yet so im enterested in this shavemac. Ive just found that the badgers can have some backbone but not much scrubbing feeling.
Let me know if im wrong on this. Id love to hear from anyone about this. Thought TC would jump back in but guess hes busy.
ya busy as Bob knows from our visit this morning ,, but I,ll agree with bob,, is any of it necessary? no we could be just sticking with a single edge Bic razor and canned goo. now as far as a boar goes, once their broke in they are very soft too, and if scratch is what you want, there are badgers with all you care for, as I said the shavemac DO1 2 band has the scratch. and super soft tips, your Manchurian tends to have not much scratch and ultra soft tip. where the really good badgers have it for me ,and remember this is all YMMV, is the density of the brush. that's why you don't see many flyaway hairs that you may want to trim. (yet they wont hurt anything) and with great density comes a very strong backbone with some of the luxury of soft.
as Bob has proved many times over, they can all make a lather, and just about every soap can be made to work well, but we all have different reasons for doing this hobby, and mine is looking for the best quality and experience from my shave. cause if I wanted to just get rid of whiskers ,, well you know we can do it without all this other crap we buy, like brushes, soap and razors and hones.
I have a buddy who asked me why a 300$ brush and 80$ soap with a custom 600$ razor ? my reply, why 900$ Jnat to put on an edge I can get with a 80$ stone and 3$ worth of Crox? if you like the brush then you will use it ,, basically I was commenting because , I was using an Old Spice brush for over 20 years before I found out what a good brush was, now theres no turning back. have you thought about just getting a good quality boar to replace it with , ask Bobh he knows which ones are worth using Tc
Keep the old favorite as is and follow Tc's advice and buy a new one.
BAM! problem solved problem staying solved.
If you like good scrub, then a Shavemac D-01 2 Band knot/brush would have more than any boar you'll find, in general.
Personally, I would not say that badger brushes are 'better' than boar or any other ones, but they are quite different and the face-feel is very unique. I have not found any other type of brush/knot to exhibit the particular characteristics that I desire or deem favourable when face-lathering. Therefore, that is why I greatly prefer badger brushes to all others.
The only way you will determine this is for you to try one yourself.
You can easily get a TGN 2-Band Finest and have them set the knot at a very low loft if you want good scrub and it should not cost more than $50.
Good luck.
Sorry, can't tell you anything about the Shavemac D0-1 2 band as I have the Shavemac 2 band silvertip which has soft tips and very good backbone. I wouldn't say that type is scrubby/scratchy just luxurious without being floppy. I would look at celestino's post for the answer on the DO-1 2 bander.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gasman
Bob
Thanks all for the great replys. I did the cleaning, washing and conditioning on my old boar and i can tell its cleaner but its still kinda shaggy. Guess its just been abused too much. Dont think i'll trim it. Leave it as is.
Now i did some readying on this 01 2 band and a lot of folks say its scrubby for a badger. Got my more enterested. And with TC's reply, i think i'll get one. Why not. But i think ill order just a knot and mount it myself. I can get the knot for 50 buck shipped and find a handle somewhere and have the ability to test it at a few different loft settings to get it just right. Sounds like a winning knot to me after all the readying i did.
Thinking of a 26mm DO-1 2 band fan shaped and starting at 50mm loft and go from there. Should be less than 75 bucks when done. They have some nice handles but after putting my brush together on there site it was 190 plus shipping. Ill keep the old warn boar and give this new one a try. The mancherian was a soft brush with backbone but not much scrub. And the bulb shape was just too much roundness.
Thanks for the reply TC and for the opinions from all. Guess in a few weeks i'll find out myself.
Just one question. Where can you find a Shavemac 26mm DO-1 for $50 shipped? Last I looked they were around $119 plus shipping from Germany.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gasman
Bob
Just the knot Bob. I went to there site and converted to dollars. I may be wrong. It wouldnt be the first time. Ill check again.
Well, i was wrong. Checked again and i did something very wrong. Thanks for lett8ng me know Bob. Now its time to reconcider what im doing.
Well, there is something wrong. I put together a brush at 24m and with tjat knot and it came up at 77 bucks. Then went back and did just a knot and it came up 159 bucks. Something is wrong with the system/configurator. Guess thats why i got such a low price the first time. Huh.
:banghead
:shrug
Sorry, did not want to burst your bubble on that DO-1 knot but also did not want you to get a nasty surprise either. As celestino mentioned, something like a TGN 2 band Finest knot is a good intro into 2 band type badger knots. I have one and it is pretty decent. There are also some outfits from China supplying 2 band Finest shaving brushes that seem to be getting good comments. These should be in your price point range.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gasman
Bob
yes at that price I was going to order a dozen of them. cause I know what ive paid for them, on the note of the other Chinese knots ,, look into Virginia Sheng, for the money they were a fine knot, I think around 20$ for a 24mm 2 band, I have one that hasn't lost a hair and really feels good,, so I bought 2 more and stuck in a couple of travel handles ,,, not trying to move you away from Shavemac, but dollars seem to be an issue. myself id save till I had it and buy once, but your money and face. Tc
Think ill wait and save some penneys and buy the shavemac. I got 8 brushes now so its not like im in need of a new one. Broke out a new synthetic last night. Worked really well but very soft. No scrubbing at all. Nice lather but just different. Thanks for the headsup onvthe shavemac. Ill get one, just not right now.
Yes, there is a difference, a quality Badger knot is light years from a cheapo, everybody should have at least, one quality brush. A quality brush is a lifetime purchase.
Do yourself a favor, make a list of quality brushes you would like, also add soaps and creams. Give the list to your bride, when the kids ask what you want for… She pops out the list.
I text the list to her and update with additions, she saves it in my contact on her phone. No more sweaters…
For soaps, go to Obie’s Soap and Creams, 1st tier list. A good brush and or tub of 1st tier soap, will make a great gift for anyone.
Great idea. Ill do that. Thanks. Hey Euclid, I found it but its 82 pages.long. come on now. Is there a shortcut to the final list? And does he do brushes too or just soaps?
yes the thread is 82 pages long but the top 10 remain almost unchanged, just go over his top tier in the beginning or heres the jist of it
always Martin De Candre
always Castle Forbes
these will always be tier one and at the top, now don't get me wrong if you spend time looking over all the pages you will find some very good soaps, and always remember what id great for me might not like you. for instance I just don't like Italian soaps with the almond scent, yet some are top performers. next time I,m home I,ll send you a couple samples of top tier give me your address in a Pm, wish I could let you use a shavemac knot, but those are for my face only, don't even let the wife use them. Tc
Oh i understand on the brushes. Would be nice to try one but like i said. Ill send you my addy. Thanks for the offer of samples. Would love to try some out when you get a chance to send them.
I still say ill wait on the brush for now. Maybe in a couple months. And im going to make up that list and put it on the wifes computer. Although ill also have to put a shortcut on her desktop too or she will never find it again. Not that her computer iz so full, its just that its not something she knows how to use. She can get emails and web surf but besides that she hasnt a clue. You cant teach and old lady new tricks. Ha. Glad she dont come here so i can get away with saying it.:rofl2:
Yea, the 1st tier in the first post.
Obie, keeps updating the top 10 if one get bumped, and or a soap is discontinued.
It’s a solid list.
