Thread: Italians and Boar

I have seen a few different things indicating that Italians prefer boar brushes. I believe I've seen one clip where an Italian man, I believe to have been a barber, said something like boar hair was the "only" hair to use.

I was just curious as to why this was and If it really holds true. Any Italians on here care to voice their opinion? This might have already been covered, I'm just curious.

It may have more to do with the barber outlook than being Italian per se. Only sit-down shaves I've had from barbers have been in France and in Sicily. In both cases, a large, long-soaked Omega boar brush was used in a way that I would not use upon myself. Turkish barbers would also appear to prefer large Turkish boar knots like Jaguar and Niva. Maybe it has to do with the angle of approach, or how much lather remains in the bowl; but for personal use, I prefer smaller knots. Boar, in any case, is great in that it can be used both small for face-lathering, once it is broken in, and large for bowl/cream lathering. Is it the best for a specific task? Maybe not, but it will get the job done, and most efficiently in almost all cases.

I'm not Italian but I can never recall seeing any barber, regardless of where they were from, use anything but a boar brush. Similar to never having seen any barber use any large razors, mostly 5/8 ones. I just chalk that up barbers being in a business and use what gets the job done with the minimum of cost. Personally, I survived going on 50 years of wet shaving using only a boar brush except for discovering badger brushes since joining the razor forums about 5 years ago. I still use boar brushes and find a well broken in boar brush just dandy.

Bob

yea, and the only car to buy is a Fiat. Har har

Boar brushes are cheap and last a long time.

Originally Posted by BobH

I'm not Italian but I can never recall seeing any barber, regardless of where they were from, use anything but a boar brush. Similar to never having seen any barber use any large razors, mostly 5/8 ones. I just chalk that up barbers being in a business and use what gets the job done with the minimum of cost.

Bob

For all the professional shaves I ever had the barber invariably used a boar brush.
As Bob suggested, if you shave people for a living you try to avoid spending money on tools unnecessarily and rather concentrate on the sweet spot between cost and benefit.

For us dedicated amateurs, perceived benefits trump costs - and badger rules supreme.



B.

I have a great $200.00 badger, but I like my $20.00 boars better. If I were a barber, boar definitely would be my choice. If you were in a country that kept barbers busy shaving customers, I'd expect the brushes would wear out sooner rather than later. In that case, why opt for a pricey brush?

As a pure Tuscan I'd say Italian barbers use boar for fear of destroying badger brushes on our coarse beards

I just received a new boar brush in box from my late Grandpap...he was an Italian Barber in the States ,started in the 30's ...anyways...I saw an Italian Barber video about boar brushes,and he said to let a new boar brush soak in cold water for 3 days...iam on day 2.