Thread: Conditioning my brush yes or no?

I think i read in a thread that a guy was using conditioner on his badger brush to condition the bristles i guess to make them softer. Is this a good idea, bad idea, or is it just personal preference? It would be nice to get rid of the wet badger smell that is all i smell when lathering. The col conk doesnt really have a strong enough smell to cover that up.

In my experience it has not been necessary. i have never needed badger to feel any softer, and I have not had a problem with not absorbing enough water. Hope this helps

It does help. My brush is soft and it holds water really well i guess i was thinking that there was a break in period for the brush and i was gonna try to speed that up. It was a boot mistake.

the brush is made from hair when you wash your hair do you put conditioner in your hair for what to get all the soap out now you dont have to do it all the time but once a week will keep your hair in good shape wont it. so why not the brush i do mine once a week i saw this in one of the vids on cleaning the brush some where and it works so faf my brushes havent goten dandruf yet.

I would actually recommend using shampoo instead of conditioner or a 2-in-1. I find the wax in a conditioner makes your brush repel water a bit for your first few latherings, which is not a good thing. As stated before, your brush is made of hair and does require a certain amount of maintenance. Shampoo seems to do the trick.

You can bring the brush in the shower with you and shampoo and condition it.
I saw a video somewhere with a woman cleaning a badger brush with Borax.
I've done this, then used regular old hair conditioner...Works great...

My best pure badger brush has seen a lot of action and it is still in tip top shape and looks and feels clean. I bought it new and it gets enough cleaning with my shaving soaps and pre-shave soap oil when lathering and being rinsed.

So the conclusion is that no new conditioning is needed for this brush.

However, I did once see an old badger brush that looked like it lost some of its Mojo hanging around 20+ years doing nothing. Perhaps a weekly shampoo and conditioner may have been the ticket to breath life back into that brush.

Pabster

Surely the main function of conditioner is to make the scales of the hair lie flat, making it feel smooth, look shiny, and more importantly to us, make it less absorbent?

I think it's the same argument as whether you should use fabric conditioner when you wash towels. Do you want them to be soft, or do you want them to do their job and dry you as quickly as possible?

My vote is no fabric conditioner on towels, and no hair conditioner on shaving brushes.

I cleaned my badger with dish soap, then did white vinegar to remove all the soap residue. There was a video on one of the sites...can't remember if it was Mamabear, TGQ, or Emsplace...it's been linked on here. It's a demo of brush cleaning.

Moral of the story is: Film was gone from base of bristles/handle, and it just felt clean. Squeaky clean like when you've just washed your hair.

Is it necessary? I don't know.

Did my brush look and feel sexier and more confident? I believe so.

EDIT: It was Emsplace : http://www.shaveinfo.com/videos/brush_cleaning.htm

[QUOTE=zib;404847]You can bring the brush in the shower with you and shampoo and condition it.


Sounds kinky.

Actually, I think there is nothing more wonderful than the smell of wet badger first thing in the morning.