Thread: Don't you do that to your brush!

Old barbers tales or not? Some of those things your uncle zeke told you never to do with a good brush.

1-don't use pre shave oil it will coat the hairs and ruin it
2-don't use circular strokes it will crush and break the hairs
3-don't soak it in boiling water it will destroy the hair.

Barbers tales or not? What are some others?

In my ignorance of barber lore, I do #2 frequently. I do it when gathering soap, building lather, and lathering. (Not only do I do circular strokes, but I even mash the knot straight into the soap bowl or scuttle with pressure and use a twisting motion) I have not damaged a brush yet, I feel that I can pick up more soap that way, and it helps to bloom a new knot, or restore a vintage knot that's lost it's bloom.

YMMV...

One I was told by a barber was to never dry your brush with the bristles pointing up. He said this would make the water pool at the base of the knot and rot the hairs.

I do this all the time and have no problem. I have faith in year 8 science and capillary action.

Another one he told me was to hang your brush upside down inside a scuttle to dry.
Even though he said this is what I should do, I never will for obvious reasons.

I use oil all the time, to be honest I've never herd about that but I guess I'd rather buy a new brush than chop my face up. I do use a vegan brush more than my badger not sure why.

I wouldn't dream of using boiling water on my brush so I couldn't say whether it would do it any harm. I doubt if it would do it any good. I do use circular strokes on the puck, in the bowl and on my face. I've read instructions that came with brushes, Kent for example, that doing so will break bristles but so far so good. I never have used a pre-shave oil but would be worried that it would possibly harm the brush. I never asked since I don't have any plans to start using but would have brought it up in a thread if I did.

I do #2 all the time, and the hot water I use for my shave comes from the kettle. So whilst the water is not boiling, its pretty dang hot so I guess that would be #3 as well.

I've been using the same brush for over a year now, with no ill effects and its hardly shed any hair either. Probably no more than one or two a month.

Re the circular strokes: I use them all the time, but notice that if I want to get the most lather on my face, after I work it in with a circular motion I then use the paint brush stroke to maximize the amount/thickness of lather on my face. Also, how is one supposed to froth up the lather in the first place if one doesn't use circular strokes in one's mug or bowl?

I don't see oil being an issue.

The soap will clean it off.

How are you supposed to get soap on the brush, or build lather without using circular strokes? Does a person do a back and forth line?

I do #1,#2, & #3

no issues yet.