We are about to take a trip to Brush land and we will explore the issues that most affect us as end users of these indispensible items. This isn’t intended to be a complete discourse on brushes rather the essentials. Hopefully you will all add to it and it will become more complete. So whether you’re a brush novice, a brush stockpiler or just have a fetish there’s something for everyone.
Brushes have been used a very long time. I don’t know how long however Napoleon had a huge Plisson’s with a massive Sterling Silver handle. It was only during the early 20th Century that Professional Barbers stopped using a common mug of soap and brush for fears about disease. Most used the Lather king machine to dispense lather for shaving and haircut trimming and it was applied by the barber’s hands.
There have been a number of critters that have been utilized as media for shave brushes. Horse was very common and popular in the 19th Century and very early 20th however it was realized the cleaning procedure did not kill Anthrax Spores and Horse Brushes went by the wayside. Recently, some have been introduced again. Boar has also been used extensively right up to the present. Interestingly for just about every kind of brush out there except shaving brushes boar is considered top of the line. This includes hair brushes, paint brushes, and artists’ brushes as examples. Some have experimented with Camel and I’m sure others have been used however they never caught on. Badger has pretty much always been considered the premium hair for shave brushes for reasons we will discover later. They have also used blends of animal hairs as well as a variety of synthetic materials and blends of synthetic and natural. I remember my father had a nylon brush back in the 1950s and it was terrible not having a single redeeming quality save price. More recently they have much improved the synthetics and many favor them for a variety of reasons.
So when you go into the store and want a Boar brush or a Horse or a Synthetic and they only seem to have a tiny selection of sizes and handles, why is that? Well you go to buy a new car and you want the De Luxe Model because it’s cheaper but it’s missing some options you want and you can’t buy them in that model so you have to upgrade to the Luxury model and pay much more and get a bunch of options you don’t want. The sad fact is these various brush types are looked upon as low cost alternatives to Badger so basically if you want one you get what they make and that’s it. You want fancier or a different size you have to go for a pricier option. Of course you have the option to find a custom maker who can make one for you to your specifications or even better make one yourself.
Does that mean the non Badgers are inferior brushes? Those who use them and enjoy them don’t think so and many will extoll their virtues. You need to judge their construction and performance along with what you consider important.
So how do they feel? The nylon one my father had was terrible. It was like using a marshmallow. What you want in a perfect brush is some backbone but not too much, you want it to hold water and you want it to make a great lather quickly and you want it to feel great on the skin. Much of this is subjective of course and you may love a stiff prickly brush and another may love one soft and floppy. The fact is all modern and vintage brushes will do the job. It’s a matter of how much you want to spend and how hard you want to work at making that lather. The reason Badger is king is because it combines all these desirable qualities. Other hair types may display some of them or all but to a lesser degree.
So now we come to Badger Brushes specifically.
First you need to realize there is no universal system for grading the hair. Each maker can call the hair whatever name they want to invent for the grade. Hair is often dyed. So, when smaller Brush makers do up a brush they buy generic knots of hair from China which is where most hair comes from. The specialized well-known makers buy the hair in bulk where they can inspect and grade the hair. The old axiom of buy the seller then the product is a wise one in this case.
So how do they grade the hair? It’s graded according to what part of the animal it comes from. The most common hair is termed pure badger and if not dyed appears usually dark brown or can be shades of brown. It is usually very prickly with lots of backbone. Next is what’s called Best Badger and it’s a big step up from pure because the hairs are more selective. Sometimes they are blended but usually Best Badger though still having some backbone is also pretty soft and not prickly. Like with the other animal hairs the selection is limited because once again it is considered low end stuff (relatively speaking. Practically it’s not low end at all) though the selection is better than the other brushes. Next is what’s usually termed Silvertip. It’s the premium and most limited stuff and very often is very soft and luxurious and can be very floppy. Some makers trim it to a short loft to give it more backbone. Last there is a sub grade of Silvertip which comes from (I am told) a different species and is only grown during certain times of the year. It is very resilient, is not floppy at all and has the combined qualities of softness and stiffness. This is the most prized hair and at various times is very difficult to get. Only a very few makers even use it when they can get it.
Another consideration is the way the hair is shaped some being fan shaped and some bulb shaped. That is personal preference though.
Once you get into Silvertip the variety of brush sizes and handle designs and materials is endless as is the price.
I’m not going to discuss specific makers here because you really have to study the offerings and compare them to decide what grade is what as compared to another maker and they can be confusing.
So what do you get for your money when you buy a brush? You get the name brand, the critter, the grade, the handle material, the handle construction, the size of the brush (its loft and diameter, amount of hair fill), whether its hand trimmed or machine trimmed and of course the amount of hand work going into the thing and probably the packaging too.
So you need to decide how much you can afford for a brush and what qualities are important to you as well as the aesthetics of the total package as well as any feelings you have about how the critters are treated or what critter you prefer over another. Also as I said before you can make your own brush if you’re a mind to as long as you can source the hair knots.
So that’s about it.
I’m going to leave this post open and I invite discussion. Let’s talk about our favorite brushes and their qualities and the alternatives available. Maybe others can fill-in some of the blanks I’ve left out on purpose here. Maybe someone knows more about brush history for instance or more about badger species or can map out from where each type of hair comes from on the animal. We can also talk about our favorite brands and grades.
