Thread: Rooney 1/2 Super

Just picked this up from Jim @ VB's, bought it primarily for face lathering of soaps and love it!

My question is does anyone have an idea of the "break in" period. This sucker is like an NFL Linebacker, dense and stiff.

Any thoughts or ideas on how to expedite the process would be greatly appreciated.

Joe

The rooney's are just dense firm brushes. My 1/1 did break in a bit such that the tips became a bit softer, but it's still super dense and firm (which I like). This break in happened over the course of 2 weeks or so. Since then, I haven't noticed any real differences. I wouldn't expect any radical change to the density and firmness at any rate.

If you want to expedite the process, you can try just building some test lathers over and over, but I prefer just to let it happen naturally (during normal use).

Dito that. Mu new Rooney 1/1 took a few lathers to soften up a bit, but is still a dense brush and I'm lovin' it!

X

I picked up a vintage Rooney on the Bay. Appeard unused, and no info on the model, but appeared to be lower grade badger, and possible mix with Boar (sticker on it had "pure bristle and badger"). Has about a 26mm knot (dense as hell) , and is like face lathering with a bale of straw,,,,, I LOVE IT! Only used it a couple times so far, so don't know if it will break in or not.

-Moe

You will find that a Rooney will take a bit to "break in", both in feel and in optimal performance. After a week or two of use the brush's ability to absorb water and produce lather is notably improved and you will find that the tips will feel softer. These changes occur without any loss in the desired resilience/backbone in the bristles that make the Rooney's so unique.

As has been mentioned, you can accelerate this process by first giving the brush a good shampoo (my preference but not necessary) and then doing a number of test lathers in a bowl, rinsing thoroughly after each. When doing this please be sure to use one of the most expensive products that you have purchased from me and use a lot of it.

Way to go Jim.................Great!