Thread: A Brush Primer

Originally Posted by oldschooltools

Gibbs,

In defense of the $7 VDH brush...they take time to "break in". An expensive badger brush will lather and feel wonderful from the get go. When the little VDH has had many shaves, the backbone will soften, the hairs will split and it will lather and shave beautifully! My problem is, when I get them right, I give them away! OTOH, I am not going to give my 24X58 silver tip badger to a nephew or cousin. The much maligned little drug store brush has ended up being the genesis for many of the young males in my family to give up aerosol cream and disposable razors and begin wet shaving; for this reason, and others, I love them!

A request....shave with the brush for a few months, then get back to us.

Give a well broken in $7 boar brush --- oh my.

A better solution is to give the beginner (I am betting you give them to beginners)
and include a puck of Williams with the advice that after working through half
a puck of Williams practicing, the beginner will have learned a bit about Lathering
and the $7 brush will be well on its way to being right.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Give a well broken in $7 boar brush --- oh my.

A better solution is to give the beginner (I am betting you give them to beginners)
and include a puck of Williams with the advice that after working through half
a puck of Williams practicing, the beginner will have learned a bit about Lathering
and the $7 brush will be well on its way to being right.

Tom (niftyshaving),

A simpler solution albeit, flawed. If the young men (used to instant gratification) don't find the mug and brush more effective than Edge Gel, my bet is they'll go back to the easy way. As an evangelistic wet shaver, I'd rather not end up being the kooky, old, fuddy duddy Uncle trying to foist his arcane ways upon the next generation.

So, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" seems to apply here. The VDH brush, VDH Deluxe (melted w/sandalwood added) and a vintage Gillette safety has worked twice with the jury still out on the third. And, a cousin one generation down is ready to try a straight. I'm willing to put in a little more effort, rather than a bunch of money, in order to "enlighten" them. I did mention that I'm an evangelistic wet shaver?

With sincerest respect,
oldschooltools

Have any SRP members used the Men-u Premiere synthetic shaving brush? I have seen videos on youtube. Let me know please before I go and make another foolish mistake. thanks.

Thanks Spendur, Nice post with lots of great info.
I am a hardcore do it yourselfer that would like to try my hand at making a brush startiing with a dead badger.
Is there a particular part of the badger used more frequently for a particular type of brush? I am thinking the back of the neck and along the backbone being longer and stiffer hairs and the belly being much shorter as well as much softer and lighter tan coloring.
Any source of info for the do it yourselfer will be much appreciated.

First: catch your badger

If I may add;
Boar brushes are different than badger in that they should be soaked prior to use. Put the brush bristles-down in a coffee mug, and fill it not quite to the handle with hot water. (from the tap, not boiling hot) Then strop your razor and take your shower or whatever you do for 5 minutes or so. The brush will be much softer. The VdH brush is a deal for the money, and great for someone on a budget, but you should try an Omega or Semogue boar before you give up on them. They are never going to be quite as soft as a $200 badger, but judging them all based on the VdH or the Burma Shave brush would be like judging Simpsons and Kents based on your experience with that floppy Shea Moisturizing badger from Target.

Good post.
I just have an OMEGA, shaving brushes, bristle shaving brush.
I've never used a badger brush yet but this seems to work fine. I usually soak it in hot water while I shower. I'm a bit thrown off as to why it says hog and not boar, but I guess that's just semantics.
Maybe it's good that my initiation into wet shaving was with the hog brush, perhaps when I get a badger I'll say wowie!

Pretty much any brush out there will work and do the job. My dad had a synthetic made of nylon back in the 1950s and it didn't work-har har. But that was then. It's a matter of using a brush whose qualities you like and what you can afford.

In the end it's like everything else out there, what you are using is fine until you try something that works better. It can be a never ending and expensive ride if you let it.

I started off with the VDH Boar brush. It was ok. The biggest complaint I have with the VDH is that 5-6 hairs shed from the thing with every shave; a bit annoying. My next brush was a Simpson Special and I swore I'd never go back to boar. I have since purchased a Semogue 1438. The quality is better than the VDH but I still believe that badger is better performing in every aspect. For me, a boar brush works if I face lather. Lathering in a bowl with a boar brush is difficult for me. To get a decent bowl lather with boar, I have to load the brush so heavily that I feel I am wasting soap. I just feel that badger (even pure badger) performs better than the boar. But that is just me.

Originally Posted by kwlfca

Good post.
I just have an OMEGA, shaving brushes, bristle shaving brush.
I've never used a badger brush yet but this seems to work fine. I usually soak it in hot water while I shower. I'm a bit thrown off as to why it says hog and not boar, but I guess that's just semantics.
Maybe it's good that my initiation into wet shaving was with the hog brush, perhaps when I get a badger I'll say wowie!

Hey, I bought a similar Omega boar brush OMEGA, shaving brushes, bristle shaving brush at Shoppers Drug Mart locally. I face lather and it works very well also just using cold water. It is the cheapest brush, cost wise, that I own and if I had to would work well as my only brush. I would not go so far as to say badgers are better but certainly they are a different experience. There are plenty of brushes that work well but there are a few that will supply the wow factor and you will know only when you use it. You really can't go by others experience exclusively.

Bob