Thread: Stinky Badger!

Hello everybody out there in shaving land! i have a question and i hope someone can help me out. i just bought a Parker badger brush and i am having mixed results. lather's great. feels good on the face. plastic handle, but it is ivory colred and has some good weight to it so i am ok with it. it is losing some hairs, but i hear that is normal while it is breaking in.

the bad news. it stinks! i heard that it would so i was expecting a smell, but it is actually kind of strong. will the smell go away in time, or am i doomed to have a dead badger in the bathroom?

thanks to all who reply and good hunting!

michaelh,

Have you shampooed your stinky badger brush yet? I'm serious. That may help reduce the smell. I would think that just like a boar hair brush that over time, with consistent use, the smell ought to dissipate entirely.

The wet dog smell goes away on its own. Happily, you can expedite the process by shampooing it a few times. (Maybe every other shave). You should really shampoo a brush every now & then anyway to remove soap deposits or if you use pre-shave oils routinely.

Congratulations, my friend - that's the fine funk of badger brush love!

Seriously though, your brush will stink like that for the first few times you use it. Some of us SRP'ers actually love the smell of badger in the morning.

If you don't then the tips you can read in this thread will help with the problem.

If you search the forum using the words "badger stink" you can read some of the ways others have dealt with this amusing (to some) issue.

I can't speak specifically to the hair loss issue. Some folks experience the loss of a few hairs in the first few uses, others lose none. I have experienced both with my three brushes. Some brushes just keep balding, and that's obviously a problem. If that happens, contact your vendor, and perhaps you can work something out.

Hope this helps.

Not only do I shampoo my brushes at first, I use some of my wife's conditioner as well. (Don't tell her, though.) I figure I'll do it again every few months, or if I want to play with my shave stuff but I'm already smooth.

Shampoo and condition the brush to remove the worst of the smell, then use a strongly scented cream or soap for the next few shaves to cover up the smell while using it. The smell will go with use, although the length of usage required varies brush to brush.

Originally Posted by mosley59

Shampoo and condition the brush to remove the worst of the smell, then use a strongly scented cream or soap for the next few shaves to cover up the smell while using it. The smell will go with use, although the length of usage required varies brush to brush.

Some would say that this is a good use for Williams soap.

It does make sense to lather your way through half a puck of
Williams over a couple days. It is a tolerable soap, some
days I would say good. If you can not make a good lather
with it, more practices is in order.

I can pick up a puck for a buck fifty...

I am saying lather with it.. Shave with it or your favorite.

And yes I have a bias.... it is the first puck of soap
I ever bought (at a post exchange). It and a cheep
boar brush make me feel "young again" sort of
a way back machine.

Originally Posted by michaelh

Hello everybody out there in shaving land! i have a question and i hope someone can help me out. i just bought a Parker badger brush and i am having mixed results. lather's great. feels good on the face. plastic handle, but it is ivory colred and has some good weight to it so i am ok with it. it is losing some hairs, but i hear that is normal while it is breaking in.

the bad news. it stinks! i heard that it would so i was expecting a smell, but it is actually kind of strong. will the smell go away in time, or am i doomed to have a dead badger in the bathroom?

thanks to all who reply and good hunting!

Hay don't worry only take the rational decision at the right time. As you have described the Parker badger brush is best in each and every aspect only the problem is: its smelly then opt for the rose flower liquid bottles and use it and then tell me. I hope your problem will be solved out.

Good advise given here. The smell will go away after several washes. Shame on Parker for selling you a smelly brush.

Pabster

Originally Posted by michaelh

Hello everybody out there in shaving land! i have a question and i hope someone can help me out. i just bought a Parker badger brush and i am having mixed results. lather's great. feels good on the face. plastic handle, but it is ivory colred and has some good weight to it so i am ok with it. it is losing some hairs, but i hear that is normal while it is breaking in.

the bad news. it stinks! i heard that it would so i was expecting a smell, but it is actually kind of strong. will the smell go away in time, or am i doomed to have a dead badger in the bathroom?

thanks to all who reply and good hunting!

This is a perfect reason to pickup a puck of the most inexpensive
shave soap you can find.

Worry your way through half a puck as you break in your brush.
Locally I can get Williams for $1.60 so that is what I used last time.
Toss the puck in a small bowel pick up some soap and work a lather
in another bowel. For this exercise a soup bowel or soup cup will
work. Rinse lather repeat for about fifteen minutes... about ten
cycles... Perhaps two days in a row.

This is a good time to explore lather building too little or too much water.
Add water all at once or in drips.... lather in the cup, lather on your hand.

Another trick for the first week is to not rinse the soap from the brush
just shake it out and put it up to dry.