Under appreciated

I have had a Muhle Retro LE brush for a long time which saw little use as I did not care for it. That was until I used it for this weeks shaves and modified how I loaded the brush with soap before face lathering. It is still soft and a bit floppy but it lathers easily like a champ with that little change. That little change has made it eminently useful and placed it in my regular rotation of shave brushes to use. Just another example of the gear not being at fault but the problem was user error. Happy the penny finally dropped on this one.

Attachment 342638

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

I have had a Muhle Retro LE brush for a long time which saw little use as I did not care for it. That was until I used it for this weeks shaves and modified how I loaded the brush with soap before face lathering. It is still soft and a bit floppy but it lathers easily like a champ with that little change. That little change has made it eminently useful and placed it in my regular rotation of shave brushes to use.

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And here the obvious question: What did you change about the way you load this brush?

I do admit, Mühle (badger or their Silvertip Fibre©) brushes work(ed) well for me even though they are no longer in regular use.


B.

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Originally Posted by beluga

And here the obvious question: What did you change about the way you load this brush?

I do admit, Mühle (badger or their Silvertip Fibre©) brushes work(ed) well for me even though they are no longer in regular use.


B.

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I simply dipped the silver tip badger knot further into the water as my customary way is just dip the tips before shaking the excess water out before face lathering. After that just the tips when making lather on my face. The brush now loads and releases the lather much better than before. My guess is that the knot being fairly dense was not getting enough water on the initial loading by just dipping the tips.

Bob

Yes, variations of the initial loading will find the sweet spot on most brushes,
Much better than tossing one in the sink! :D

I just run the tap until it's as hot as it will get, then I fill my mug until the water comes about 1.4 inch from the handle and leave the brush soaking while I shower.

My brushes are cheap boar mostly, I don't have anything expensive.

I do not use hot water at all for shaving never mind soaking a brush for an extended period of time in a mug. Everyone finds what works for them. There is no one correct way to do things in shaving. That is one of the reasons I did not say what the change was that I made. The point was only that the brushes poor performance was not the brushes fault but operator error in not finding what will make it work.

Bob

Steve, we really must get you out of that habit!
Sometimes I wonder if somewhere it is written (or repeatedly UTubed) that you should soak your brush.


Brings to mind our departed friend Pixelfixed. His lovely creations of wood, ivory, and other exotics combined are truly remarkable.
Someone once posted a rant that his brush handle was splitting and coming apart. Said a shaving brush should be able to be tossed into a sink of hot water and emerge unscathed. Pixel blamed him for tossing the brush. Expressed regret for selling him one. Boy...That was a hoot.

I always begin with a dry brush, dip the tips and begin to lather, dipping the tips once and proceeding until I am liking the lather. Soaps are all different as well as brushes when it comes to the right ratio.

Too much water makes for a floppy brush and lather which is runny and weak beyond correction. JMO

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Steve, we really must get you out of that habit!
Sometimes I wonder if somewhere it is written (or repeatedly UTubed) that you should soak your brush.


Brings to mind our departed friend Pixelfixed. His lovely creations of wood, ivory, and other exotics combined are truly remarkable.
Someone once posted a rant that his brush handle was splitting and coming apart. Said a shaving brush should be able to be tossed into a sink of hot water and emerge unscathed. Pixel blamed him for tossing the brush. Expressed regret for selling him one. Boy...That was a hoot.

I always begin with a dry brush, dip the tips and begin to lather, dipping the tips once and proceeding until I am liking the lather. Soaps are all different as well as brushes when it comes to the right ratio.

Too much water makes for a floppy brush and lather which is runny and weak beyond correction. JMO

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My way has always worked for me but I do place my brush on a folded paper towel between applications because pools of water / lather run off it and the lather is very wet (which i always assumed was a good thing) and drips all over my chest.

My technique might very well be wrong and I bow to your experience so tomorrow when I shave I won't soak my brush, I'll do as you do and just dip from a dry brush, hopefully I will enter a whole new era in my shaving journey eh?

Yea if your making a mess it’s too wet, but you may like soap dripping all down your chest,, the sweet spot is not dripping yet still wet enough not to dry out too fast, got to try many things

Give it a try, Steve!
I have a small mug I stick my brush in between passes. I never put the bristles up unless I am applying to the face and hang it bristles down to dry. No need for lather/water in the handle.

If you apply lather and it seems a bit dry, a dip of the tips and go over the lather to moisten it just right.

I find that the process changes if you use the same thing day after day or rotate through different things.

When using a brush or soap daily they never get completly dry before the next use.

This is in my bathroom anyway.

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Originally Posted by 32t

I find that the process changes if you use the same thing day after day or rotate through different things.

When using a brush or soap daily they never get completly dry before the next use.

This is in my bathroom anyway.

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I have about 20 soaps and each has it's own dedicated brush.

Whether i use the same brush twice or more depends mostly on if my wife is upstairs or down in the family room.

Upstairs I use a subtle soap because she has sensitivities, but if she's down in the family room I can go for it with my stronger stuff knowing it will settle down before she gets close enough to suffer from it.

She say's she wishes I had got a less smelly hobby :dropjaw: I gonna get her a nice looking nose clip like swimmers use.

Before anyone suggests it, NO I don't wan't unscented. If I couldn't use all those nice soaps I might as well get a Gillette cartridge and a can off lazy shave.

If I could find a scentless soap that worked i would love it.

My point is more with the lather.

I use the same soap/brush every day for 6 months or more at a time.

That changes how my brush and soap works together.

My proceedure would not work for you with your rotation.

I use the same brush and soap combo for a week at a time and the only brush the might not dry overnight on occasion is that dense Muhle badger knot. My house is fairly dry year round including the bathroom. Running an exhaust fan during showers/baths and for 1/2 hour or so after seems to take care of any humidity problems in the bathroom. Obviously if the humidity is high in a bathroom the brush will take longer than overnight to dry. The lathering technique stays the same for the week.

Bob

I’m a brush soaker! Most of my brushes are of the Chubby 2 variety; large, densely packed knots that need a bit of a soak to perform for me. My less dense brushes I just give a little splash then go. As you say they can go a little floppy otherwise.

My basement is in the 40 to 50% humiditiy range on average.

How long does it take a brush to truly dry on average? Hmmmm

I'd say that most brushes except the dense ones would dry overnight, say from morning to morning. Well, at least mine seem to. as usual YMMV.

Bob

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Steve, we really must get you out of that habit!
Sometimes I wonder if somewhere it is written (or repeatedly UTubed) that you should soak your brush.

JMO

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Am I glad that you were talking to Steve and not to me, because I shall continue to soak the bristles of my boar brushes. ;)

Unlike badger, horse or synthetics, boar bristles significantly change when they are wet and for the sake of consistency I rather have that change occur before the shave than somewhere between the first pass and the final touch-up.
Instead of tossing the entire brush into a sink with water, I soak them for a few minutes upside down in a cup with only the bristles submerged.

For years, I have had brushes with wooden handle and there is no difference in the condition of the boar ones that I soak and the badger ones that I don’t.

So the subject of brush handle damage because of soaking is a non-starter for me.



B,

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Originally Posted by beluga

Am I glad that you were talking to Steve and not to me, because I shall continue to soak the bristles of my boar brushes. ;)

Unlike badger, horse or synthetics, boar bristles significantly change when they are wet and for the sake of consistency I rather have that change occur before the shave than somewhere between the first pass and the final touch-up.
Instead of tossing the entire brush into a sink with water, I soak them for a few minutes upside down in a cup with only the bristles submerged.

For years, I have had brushes with wooden handle and there is no difference in the condition of the boar ones that I soak and the badger ones that I don’t.

So the subject of brush handle damage because of soaking is a non-starter for me.



B,

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I'm going to try dipping the bristles today to see what difference it makes as sharptonn suggested.

To be clear most of my brushes are boar and although I soak them in a mug while I shower, I have never chucked them in the sink.

I do fill the mug enough to cover most of the length of the bristle but I have never let the handle become submerged.

I tend to only gently shake the water from the brush before I lather because those boars of mine don't hold water like a badger, consequently my lather is wet enough that it drips on my chest most times and I have to stand it on a folded paper towel between passes or it leaves a big soapy puddle on my bathroom counter. It also leaves enough soap on the brush after four passes to probably do another 3.

Like I say, I will try dipping, that method may work better on a badger because I've always found soaking softens my boars nicely (although they are pretty soft from use already) but I'll try it, I might be pleasantly surprised and I'm always ready to learn from guys with a lot more experience than me.

Ive learned that with my boar brushes i like to soak. But my soaking time is 30 seconds at the most. Much more and they lose backbone and get floppy. I do more than just the tips in water. More like half the hairs in water on all my brushes. I do have some floppys and they just get less water time and just drips added to the lather on the brush.
Do what works for you steve. But be sure to try all the ways.

The purpose of my initial post was not to recommend a certain way to get lathered. I merely wanted to say the most shave gear will perform well if the operator can somehow figure out how to make it work. By all means experiment to find what works for you. It is part of the fun.

Bob

I understand Bob.

It was nice that it turned into a dicussion though and I learned something.

I think a lot of the best threads evolve a bit.

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Originally Posted by STF

I understand Bob.

It was nice that it turned into a dicussion though and I learned something.

I think a lot of the best threads evolve a bit.

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Not a problem at all. I just wanted to make sure that it is understood that there is no holy grail way in how to do things regarding shaving. Nor am I ever advocating there is.

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Steve, we really must get you out of that habit!
Sometimes I wonder if somewhere it is written (or repeatedly UTubed) that you should soak your brush.


Brings to mind our departed friend Pixelfixed. His lovely creations of wood, ivory, and other exotics combined are truly remarkable.
Someone once posted a rant that his brush handle was splitting and coming apart. Said a shaving brush should be able to be tossed into a sink of hot water and emerge unscathed. Pixel blamed him for tossing the brush. Expressed regret for selling him one. Boy...That was a hoot.

I always begin with a dry brush, dip the tips and begin to lather, dipping the tips once and proceeding until I am liking the lather. Soaps are all different as well as brushes when it comes to the right ratio.

Too much water makes for a floppy brush and lather which is runny and weak beyond correction. JMO

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I just finished shaving and just dipped my brush.

I could tell the difference. Just dipping it made no less lather, the lather was thicker and less watery but the brush (boar) did feel a bit more scritchy than usual.

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Originally Posted by STF

I just finished shaving and just dipped my brush.

I could tell the difference. Just dipping it made no less lather, the lather was thicker and less watery but the brush (boar) did feel a bit more scritchy than usual.

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Do you bowl or face lather?

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

Do you bowl or face lather?

Bob

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I swirl my brush in the soap and then face lather.

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Originally Posted by STF

I swirl my brush in the soap and then face lather.

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OK, load some soap then dip the tips agai and load some more. Repeat this till you have a thick proto lather loaded into the brush. Now dip the tips again and start to build your shaving lather on your face. Add water as you go till you get the right non runny consistency.

Bob

This is great! Soakers and non-soakers! :D

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

This is great! Soakers and non-soakers! :D

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Yea, ain't it grand.

Bob

Well, I've been a soaker since day one but it's interesting to see how the other half live.

If it works well for me I could become a convert but old habits die hard as they say.

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Originally Posted by STF

Well, I've been a soaker since day one but it's interesting to see how the other half live.

If it works well for me I could become a convert but old habits die hard as they say.

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It really does not matter which you do but you are not getting a good lather if it runs down the brush as well as splashes all over the place.

I found this vid helpful and use a variation of the dry method. Rarely do I get soap splashed on the mirror, my T shirt or running out of my brush onto the counter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4zESTQWDuw

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BobH

It really does not matter which you do but you are not getting a good lather if it runs down the brush as well as splashes all over the place.

Rarely do I get soap splashed on the mirror, my T shirt or running out of my brush onto the counter.


Bob

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You make a very good point Bob, I just worked on the assumption that the lather was just to hold water on ones face so the wetter the better.

It has to be said though, I never ever get lather dripping on my t-shirt because, I get out of the shower and shave in the same clothes I was born in ;)

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Originally Posted by STF

It has to be said though, I never ever get lather dripping on my t-shirt because, I get out of the shower and shave in the same clothes I was born in ;)

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I have never connected the act of shaving with having a shower first.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

I have never connected the act of shaving with having a shower first.

Bob

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It's just what I always did I guess, even when I used lazy shave and a 5 blade cartridge thing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BobH

I have never connected the act of shaving with having a shower first.

Bob

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It's because that's how they do it in the movies.

Har har.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's because that's how they do it in the movies.

Har har.

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I have'nt seen any of those movies, seems like it would be a boring scene but surely I'm not the only guy here that jumps out of the shower and has a shave.

Actually. a lot of the shaving videos on youtube show the guy with damp hair from the shower

Quote:

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Originally Posted by STF

I have'nt seen any of those movies, seems like it would be a boring scene but surely I'm not the only guy here that jumps out of the shower and has a shave.

Actually. a lot of the shaving videos on youtube show the guy with damp hair from the shower

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Yupper, it is quite a common practice as is actually shaving in the shower too. Spender was just pulling your wizzer. Just keep in mind not everyone does things the same way nor do they have to.

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BobH

OK, load some soap then dip the tips agai and load some more. Repeat this till you have a thick proto lather loaded into the brush. Now dip the tips again and start to build your shaving lather on your face. Add water as you go till you get the right non runny consistency.

Bob

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I had a shave this morning, after my shower ;)

I dipped my worn in boar brush, swirled and dipped again. I actually did it 3 times in my Henri et Victoria hard soap (french pear) and ended up with a very full brush.

I started to face lather and dipped again. I have never had such thick creamy lather, actually I have never had so much of any kind of lather.

It stayed on the brush between passes and after 4 passes i had to wash a still full brush down the sink.

To the soakers out there , maybe give this dip method that Bob suggested a try, I don't know if I am a complete convert yet but, I have to say that I was impressed and definately going to try it with a couple of different brushes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by STF

I had a shave this morning, after my shower ;)

I dipped my worn in boar brush, swirled and dipped again. I actually did it 3 times in my Henri et Victoria hard soap (french pear) and ended up with a very full brush.

I started to face lather and dipped again. I have never had such thick creamy lather, actually I have never had so much of any kind of lather.

It stayed on the brush between passes and after 4 passes i had to wash a still full brush down the sink.

To the soakers out there , maybe give this dip method that Bob suggested a try, I don't know if I am a complete convert yet but, I have to say that I was impressed and definately going to try it with a couple of different brushes.

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You can get that same thick creamy lather if you soak your brush. Take a look at how the fella does it with a brush that has been soaking first in the vid I linked to. It is messier though.

Bob