Op-Ed-Synthetic Brushes.

"Gee uncle Ed thanks for the new brush it looks really neat. Is it a Badger? Why no Jake. Well, is it Boar? Why no Jake. Well, is it Horse? Why no Jake. I know Uncle Ed it be from some exotic animal like an Elephant or maybe a Lion right? Why no Nephew. It's a synthetic brush. Huh? I never heard of that animal. Har har it's no animal it's a man made product. It probably started from petrochemicals which came from the ground from trees and other plants millions of years ago.

It's the kinder way to shave. No animals were tortured or killed in it's making and it works just as good as any brush on the planet.

But Uncle Ed I been to your farm and you raise badgers for food and you trap animals for fur and you burn the vegetation to plant pot and you shave with a huge Badger brush you made yourself. Well, yes Nephew but I'm a fixin to change and I don't want you to go down the path I went down."

So years ago I remember my Pa had a synthetic brush made from 100% pure nylon bristles. He loved it. If I had to use that now I'd get electrolysis on my face so I wouldn't need to shave.

Over the years they have worked to improve synthetic brushes but to tell you the truth when I bought a new one a couple years ago from some high end custom maker what I received, though the handle was a work of art, the bristles weren't much better than that old nylon job my Pa had. But it sure looks good on the display stand.

So now I get the latest and and greatest, a Simpson Chubby 2 synthetic (newest model) and what do I think of it?

Well let me answer that in several ways. First, if you want something to apply lather it fills the bill. Second, if you be the vegan type it's manna from heaven or the other place depending on what you expect from it. Third, if you like a brush trying to be a typical Silver Tip it's comes kinda close? Well, naa it doesn't really

You see they make these poseur items that try to have characteristics like a badger of differing types and they are all neither. Just another poor attempt. They really don't look like badger and they don't feel like badger and they don't perform like badger.

Oh wait my mistake, maybe they really be trying to imitate a Boar or a Horse or some other critter....Hmmmm. Next time I go to the stables I'll ask old Lightning if I can borrow his mane to shave with to compare.

I honestly don't understand why someone would prefer to use one in place of a quality badger. Someone please fill me in. It surely can't be for the performance. Maybe they have gone over to "The dark side" Well if so the "force" definitely ain't with them.

Like I said if you be a vegan type I can understand it.

Are you getting the idea I hate these lather appliers?

Compare that Simpson to any of my Manchurian or my vintage Rooney Best Badger and never mind the difference be in a different ballpark. They be in a different city.

A pox on them all I say.

I welcome answers to this opinion.

You can feel the way you do as we all have the right.
But i do enjoy a synthetic brush. Do i prefer it, no. They lack the ability to hold water. But then i do see that they are not lather hogs. Its much easier to get the lather out of the knot. When usisg a synthetic knot you must use it in another way. Add water as needed for the face. Dont exspect it to hold a dence lather, this is not possible without holding water. But it will make a dence lathed on the fa e or bowl plus I find the feel wonderful.

You can get a nice fluffy feel with a nice amount of backbone. Plus the fact it is useable without soaking and cleans out and drys quickly. Some people like to soak a brush more than others. I feel any more than a few seconds of soaking you loose backbone. Not with a synthetic as there is no neex for soaking.

To each there own is my opinion. I have over 50 brushes in my collection. From vintage boar, badger, horse to synthetic new and very old. They all have a place in my shave den. Depending on what i want to use.

The imitation is never better than the original.

Butter or margarine?

The imitation can be acceptable but is it better?

Don't get me going on vegeburgers.

If you are a vegetarian why do you want to eat a burger?:rofl2:

I have built three so far well two and a half hehehe the third is not quite done

I was pleasantly surprised with the Tuxedo I kept for myself...

It isn't a Badger, which is good and bad..

Not bad not bad at all and they are CHEAP !!!!

This is the one I kept for myself

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Originally Posted by Gasman

You can feel the way you do as we all have the right.
But i do enjoy a synthetic brush. Do i prefer it, no. They lack the ability to hold water. But then i do see that they are not lather hogs. Its much easier to get the lather out of the knot. When usisg a synthetic knot you must use it in another way. Add water as needed for the face. Dont exspect it to hold a dence lather, this is not possible without holding water. But it will make a dence lathed on the fa e or bowl plus I find the feel wonderful.

You can get a nice fluffy feel with a nice amount of backbone. Plus the fact it is useable without soaking and cleans out and drys quickly. Some people like to soak a brush more than others. I feel any more than a few seconds of soaking you loose backbone. Not with a synthetic as there is no neex for soaking.

To each there own is my opinion. I have over 50 brushes in my collection. From vintage boar, badger, horse to synthetic new and very old. They all have a place in my shave den. Depending on what i want to use.

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I never soak my badgers. Under the tap for a few seconds and they are good to go. As far as a lather hog well...I have a Simpsons chubby 3 and it sure is a hog but most of my brushes are smaller and less dense. Yea the water thing is a biggie with me. I like to load up the brush initially and then shave without ever going back to the soap . If I have to, that soap is a goner. The travel thing is more valid. Synthetics do dry very fast though I have a smaller Kent which is my travel brush. It dries pretty fast.

Synthetic brushes bring two things to the table. They will lather anything and dry very quickly. You have to like them or not for what they are just as you would a boar, badger or horse brush. Just another tool in the kit and nothing to get worked up over.

Bob

I do like the Tuxedo knot. Its brothers the brown knot and the all black knot. They work well. As for going back to the soap, i have not problem with it. Id rather go back tjan to waste a lot of soap loading more than i need. That also keeps my soap warm loading a little more with hot water.
As Bob said, Just another tool in the kit!

I didn't spend a lot on any of my brushes and the thing I have noticed is that a cheap boar is great, a cheap badger is fine but a cheap synthetic is rubbish.

I bought a synthetic from the Body Shop for $14 and it just sits now after being used once, it has so much backbone that it won't give at all.

I have seen some really good synthetics but quality is more important than with boar (my favourite) or badger.

I haven't tried horse because someone told me that they go floppy like lathering up with an old paintbrush.

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Originally Posted by STF

I bought a synthetic from the Body Shop for $14 and it just sits now after being used once, it has so much backbone that it won't give at all.

I haven't tried horse because someone told me that they go floppy like lathering up with an old paintbrush.

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Found the same thing with the Body Shop synthetic brush. OTH it is great for dusting off things like your key board. ;)

Yea, horse is floppy and if you try to use circular motions when face lathering it is prickly. Painting strokes are the only way to go for me so I do not use horse hair brushes.

Bob

I find a good synthetic brush to be superior for bowl lathering. With a natural fiber brush, I can over aerate the lather. I've never had that happen with a synthetic. You do have to add a lot of water while building the lather.

I like synthetic myself, I have a Simpsons Chubby 2 that is great for dusting my guns while cleaning

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Originally Posted by tcrideshd

I like synthetic myself, I have a Simpsons Chubby 2 that is great for dusting my guns while cleaning

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Every once in a while I catch my wife using my large Yaqi barber pole synthetic to dust the pictures on our walls.

I say nothing. Happy wife, happy life.

I switched to synthetic after using the L'Occitane synthetic brush, made by Plisson. Its softness was unrivaled at the time.
After it started shedding too much I switched to a Mühle synthetic, very good as well, but not like the Plisson.
But for face lathering, it does a good job. I never bowl lather so everything pretty much works.

I haven't touched my silvertips and boars for a while, but I will try them again next time.

My favourite brush at the moment. It cost less than $30 CDN.
Attachment 331057

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Originally Posted by DZEC

Every once in a while I catch my wife using my large Yaqi barber pole synthetic to dust the pictures on our walls.

I say nothing. Happy wife, happy life.

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If I caught my wife using one of my brushes to do the dusting, I wouldn’t say anything either. I would then however use her toothbrush to clean the toilet. :D

I used my silvertip again and didn't like it one bit in comparison.

It hogged water and cream and provided for an inferior face lathering experience compared to my synthetics.

While I rarely go the synthetic route, I do prefer it with my brushes.

So, I was using my Chubby 2 synthetic today and yes it's the best there is at this point.

So, I'll make some remarks here. It does hold water but not the way a badger does. I have a chubby 2 in vintage 2 band and when you saturate both brushes then let the water drip out and then shake both out real good the amount of water is about the same in both BUT the type of water is different. The badger is more of a spray while the synthetic are just coarse drops of water. That's because badger takes in the water like a sponge while the synthetic traps the water between the bristles.

Also the synthetic builds a different type of lather than the badger. It seems like it's a finer, thinner lather. But I was able to load the brush just once for the whole shave. This is the first synthetic I've tried that was able to do that.

It's a good imitation of a silver tip on the floppy side but they did build in a small amount of backbone-very small. However it does not have the feel of a badger. In the end it has that "Synthetic feel" to it not unlike my dad's brush from the 1950s.

I think if I were traveling I would use it instead of my small Kent Badger. For me that's high praise.

Gentlemen,

I have slowly switched to synthetics and left my two remaining badgers for the weekends. The synthetics have grown on me and now I feel more comfortable with them. All this after spending a fortune on silvertip badgers, every thing from Rooney to Simpson, Thater and Wiborg.

The quality synthetics do the job well for me. They load well, create luxurious lather, and they clean up well. And they’re not that pricey.

After trying a huge collection of synthetics, I consider the Omega Evo the crowning achievement in synthetics thus far. The brush carries some of the characteristics of silvertips. It is dense with good backbone, and the tips are silky smooth.

Surprisingly, I have found couple Chinese made cheapos that are sweet enough to use frequently.

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Originally Posted by Obie

Gentlemen,

I have slowly switched to synthetics and left my two remaining badgers for the weekends. The synthetics have grown on me and now I feel more comfortable with them. All this after spending a fortune on silvertip badgers, every thing from Rooney to Simpson, Thater and Wiborg.

The quality synthetics do the job well for me. They load well, create luxurious lather, and they clean up well. And they’re not that pricey.

After trying a huge collection of synthetics, I consider the Omega Evo the crowning achievement in synthetics thus far. The brush carries some of the characteristics of silvertips. It is dense with good backbone, and the tips are silky smooth.

Surprisingly, I have found couple Chinese made cheapos that are sweet enough to use frequently.

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Well I swear I saw my Paladin giving me dirty looks while I was using my Simpson Synthetic and later the Simpson was on the floor. Hmm...I wonder how it got there.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Well I swear I saw my Paladin giving me dirty looks while I was using my Simpson Synthetic and later the Simpson was on the floor. Hmm...I wonder how it got there.

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I never liked the Simpsons synthetic brush. I am especially disappointed in Simpsons newest offering, the Trafalgar. The density and backbone are just right, but the tips are scratchy. In the end, I gave away my Simpson Trafalgar.

Anyway, I do enjoy my synthetics, especially the Omega Evo. It is dense, with good backbone, and the tips are soft. That’s a winner for me.

I don't have a lot of experience with synthetics, or badger for that matter. I am a huge boar fan.

I did try a cheapie from the body shop and that was a complete disaster, I replaced the terrible synthetic knot in my favourite handle with another synthetic knot from the bay described as faux badger. That is quite nice but the best I have felt so far is a synthetic from Rockwell, it feels like a decent badger to me.

I have a Pilson 30mm monster. Love it but its just too big. I may have to try out the Omega Evo.

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Originally Posted by Gasman

I have a Pilson 30mm monster. Love it but its just too big. I may have to try out the Omega Evo.

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I think you will like the Omega Evo. It is a lovely synthetic brush. I believe it uses almost the same knot as the Edwin Jagger synthetic, the X-Large being one of my favorites. Good stuff.

Hmmm, now I'm curious what my brush is made of.

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Originally Posted by planeden

Hmmm, now I'm curious what my brush is made of.

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You don't wanna know.

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Originally Posted by planeden

Hmmm, now I'm curious what my brush is made of.

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I had brush that I wanted to know about too.

I took one bristle and put a flame to it, synthetic will melt and natural will disappear and smell like, well burning hair.

It turned out it was synthetic even though it was sold as 100% badger. I changed the knot for a good quality synthetic and I'm very happy with it now.

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Originally Posted by STF

I had brush that I wanted to know about too.

I took one bristle and put a flame to it, synthetic will melt and natural will disappear and smell like, well burning hair.

It turned out it was synthetic even though it was sold as 100% badger. I changed the knot for a good quality synthetic and I'm very happy with it now.

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People are just rude sometimes. But I was just making fun of myself because yall sound like some clean shaven old Macdonald and I sound like "it gets the soap onto my face".

I appreciate my Chubby 2 synthetics as they are quite utilitarian and great for travel. Nonetheless, they don't really compare to a good 2-Band badger brush, in my humble opinion.

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Originally Posted by celestino

I appreciate my Chubby 2 synthetics as they are quite utilitarian and great for travel. Nonetheless, they don't really compare to a good 2-Band badger brush, in my humble opinion.

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Well, that's the thing. They get better all the time but it's kind of "They get the job done" kind of thing. It reminds me of my friend who bought a Yugo. He says it's cheap and gets him where he wants to go.

I think the Omega Evo is the best there is right now. I think it's comparable to a Best Badger in many ways but isn't in many ways too and a good Best is about the same price as the Evo so....