Thread: Is bigger, better?

Not long ago I bought a hand made shaving brush that is great in every respect but one. It's too darn big. It has the longest badger hair available and it seems that the soap all gets sucked up into the bristles. My smaller brush makes a better lather that stays in the bowl. I get great lather with either brush but I'm wondering if I could have more lather in the bowl with my big boy if I change my lather making technique. Any suggestions?

Rich


“If man could be crossed with a cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.” – Mark Twain

Personally, I like a smaller brush. I feel like it makes lathering easier and makes it easier to get all that lather on your face where it belongs.

Thanks! I'm inclined to agree but it would seem like I could get the same results no matter the size. Any other ideas?

Rich

“Always do right. This will gratify some people & astonish the rest” – Mark Twain

Add more soap/cream when using the bg brush, as it will indeed suck up more lather into the brush itself.


Personally, I am a fan of ~20mm knots. I like the lather to go where I want it to.

I like a smaller ... 23mm knot with a 50mm loft for soap and a larger brush for cream. I find loading the large brush with soap off the puck and dropping a dollop of cream into the lathering bowl is a nice combo.

Smaller brushes and handles, makes my hands cramp...i prefer the larger handles and knots, for that reason...
Just a personal preference.

Mac

I saw a tutorial on badgerandblade saying to soak the brush in hot water and put about a teaspoon of water on the puck. Then squeeze the water out of the brush and transfer the teaspoon of water from the puck to the bowl. Then take the brush to the moistened puck and swirl until you pick up enough soap then go to the bowl, adding small amounts water as needed. I do all that and still can't get the lather. I'd hate to concede defeat and go back to the cheaper, smaller brush I have but no matter how much soap I pick up on the brush I'm just not getting the lather.

Any big brush afficianados having any success?

Rich

“You ought never to take anything that don’t belong to you - if you can not carry it off” – Mark Twain

I much prefer a smaller knot (like my Rooney 22mm with 48mm loft).

I wouldn't bother getting too fancy with the lathering technique. I think many people have problems from too much water. At lest it has been my experience being stingy with the water works best. Larger brushes are lather hogs so you definitely need to load up with more soap for the biggies.

Now someone else has almost convinced me that a fatter brush (24+mm knot) is just as good or better as long as the loft is short. I can believe it but the width of the knot is one of the things that drives brush prices up fast so I am in no mood to pay the price for that experiment.

Originally Posted by Richard

I saw a tutorial on badgerandblade saying to soak the brush in hot water and put about a teaspoon of water on the puck. Then squeeze the water out of the brush and transfer the teaspoon of water from the puck to the bowl. Then take the brush to the moistened puck and swirl until you pick up enough soap then go to the bowl, adding small amounts water as needed. I do all that and still can't get the lather. I'd hate to concede defeat and go back to the cheaper, smaller brush I have but no matter how much soap I pick up on the brush I'm just not getting the lather.

Any big brush afficianados having any success?
Rich

“You ought never to take anything that don’t belong to you - if you can not carry it off” – Mark Twain

What you describe above is what I do except I put more hot tap water on the puck than a teaspoon. When I come out of the shower I dump the water off of the puck and shake out the brush. I load the brush up with hot tap water again and go right to the puck and swirl until I have lather and then go to the bowl. I may waste some lather this way but I create plenty for the shave. YMMV.

When I started I used big brushes 30mm but I got rid of all of them (almost). They are too floppy and make to much of a mess and consume too much soap. I find a medium brush to be just right and it makes way more lather than I need for shave.