Thread: Small or big brush

Originally Posted by Kevin8888

I'd say in between like a medium size, as it allows enough lather to be made, yet allows more control of placement then a monster brush.

As long as the lather hits my face I'm happy.

I have a Best badger brush from Edwin Jagger, with a 19mm knot, and I like it, but I'm thinking of getting something a bit bigger, like a 22 or 21, perf. silver tip.

Originally Posted by jockeys

I use a 28mm silvertip as seen here http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...es-pt-3-a.html and also in my videos. (see my sig)

I had a smaller brush, but I just dig the luxurious feeling of a huge silvertip. It goes thru soap a lot faster, but I make my own soap so I really don't care.

How do you make your soap? I'm very interested since there doesn't seem to be any good shaving soap recipes out there...

Hmm...I recently bought a Kent BK4...everywhere it's described as a small brush, but it feels HUGE on my face!

I guess I'm one for really small brushes. I like the feel of badger though - it feels a lot more luxurious than my cheap boar bristle brush.

Originally Posted by Stuggi

How do you make your soap? I'm very interested since there doesn't seem to be any good shaving soap recipes out there...

It is really easy to make good soap but it is not so easy to make good shaving soap. It takes a lot of experimentation to come up with a formula that performs well and provides appropriate conditioning. I can tell you this as I have been experimenting for awhile. Regarding to the question of why you cannot find good recipes for shaving soap. I ask you the following: would you buy something that you can easily make yourself for less money? If the answer is no, that is probably why the good recipes are kept a secret ;-). There are many formulas for "shaving soap" out there, they just do not perform as well as the top brands in the industry.

Al raz.

Ray, probably a bit late but you make a great point. Recently I bought a 23 mm silvertip brush with a metal base handle. I do not like the brush at all. I uses a lot more soap than the smaller brush and because the handle is made of metal, the bristles are always pushed down into the bowl and bend. I have to work them so they do not dry like that. My face is too small to appreciate the potential benefits of a larger brush. I may change my mind but for now I think that I will stay away from larger brushes.

Al raz.

Originally Posted by RayG

Aside from knot size and loft, you also need to take into account the density and thickness/stiffness of the bristles into how "large" the brush feels on your face. The EJ / C&E brushes are comparatively less dense and more floppy than say Rooneys, Simpsons or Shavemacs. So just comparing knot sizes may be misleading, since your brush would feel larger on the face due to more splaying.

That being said, I have settled on a medium to large soft brush like a silvertip shavemac 23mm with 50mm loft for creams, since I lather cream on a bowl.

For soap, I like smaller, scrubbier brushes like the T2 and CH1 size. Since I lather soap on my face, I prefer the brush to be stiffer, and like the simpsons in super or rooney in finest because the bristles themselves are stiffer and give more backbone. Some brushes use bristles that are less stiff, and make up for it in density, but this causes the brush to hog lather due to less air flow.