Thread: does knot size matter!!

I cant make up my mind on what size thater brush to get. Seeing that i only have almost a year of straight shaving under my belt,i just been using my one and only brush ( vulfix 55.00 ). I mostly bowl lather but also have an assorted pile of soaps. So whats the diff between a 28-24 -22 other than size,do the bigger knots make more suds?Also how do chubbys stack up.thanks

I'd suggest 23-24... But that's just my preference...

Really, the only difference IS size... But the size implies different things... Bigger brushes hold more lather, so you may need to use more cream, and you may end up wasting a good deal of it (but, truth be told, a 22mm knot has you with left over lather anyways...) The larger the brush, the harder it is to be precise... I believe the term is "face mop".

I like 22-24, so I'd recommend the 23... YMMV though.

Good pick on the Thaters!

Brush size is just a matter of choice. I have a 20,24, & 28. Love them all and get great lather out of them all. The chubby's are good for hard soaps and hold a lot of lather. I really like my 24 in silver tip badger. The bristles are packed in tight so it whips hard soap good and it is still soft and feels great on the face. Not to add to your choices but have you thought about the different grade of badger hair .

24 is a good all around size.

Agreed, 24mm is a good all around size, personal preference plays a role as well.
Depending on what I'm using to whip up lather in, dictates what brush I use.
I have Rooney, 24mm, it's huge, and very densely packed, A great brush. It's good for a deep mug or scuttle. If I'm using the GTP G5 scuttle, I use my Thater 22mm, it's a bit smaller and works better in a shallow scuttle. Not much room in the G5....

I've got them from 20mm diameter and a 48mm loft through 28mm with a 60 mm loft. The bigger brushes use more soap or cream if you're economy minded. You can get used to any of them and may like one better than the other but they all work. General rule of thumb is that the bigger lofts/knots are better suited to creams while the shorter and stiffer lofts to pucks of soap. So an in between size might be the best of both worlds. I like a 23mm knot with a 50 to 55 mm loft personally but they are all good.

It also depends on what type of face you have IMO. I have an angular face, so I like the precision of a small brush. If you get a 23mm knot in one of the Thaters, it may turn out to cover your entire cheek with one stroke. I don't know for sure, cause I haven't tried it, but this does often turn out to be the case for brushes bigger than 22mm that have a loft of more than 50mm. Again, I haven't tried the Thaters and can't be sure, but that's my guess based on a lot of other brushes I've tried.
I've personally come to like small knots and short lofts because of the precision. 20mm is around the best size for me I think. There are advantages to big luxurious brushes too, and I still miss the 30mm knot 48mm loft brush I once had and sold.

So after all that I've written above, you can see my ambivalence. I'd like to have a big brush around just cause, but if I were to select a workhorse, I'd go with the smallest I could get, because the middle sizes 22-24mm are often too big to be precise and too small to be super luxurious*. That's just me though, YMMV

*For me, this mostly applies to brushes that seem to have longish lofts. If you get a Rooney 1/1, which has about a 22-23mm knot with a 45mm loft, that's a different story. Those brushes are still small and precise enough for smaller faces

it matters to me, quite a bit actually, so the only thing I can recommend is to figure out whether it does for you and how much. only one way to do it, though. or you can just stick to and like whatever you pick - that also works remarkably well.

Do keep in mind that Thäter brushes have a high knot density and the backbone that comes with that. Even the big ones (which I think SRD does not carry yet) are everything but floppy. However, I would also go for a 24 or 26mm one.

Gentlemen:

I have a 25 mm. knot Edwin Jagger best badger that produces a massive amount of lather. It's a good brush, but I find it swallows my face. My 19 mm. travel brush, a best badger Edwin Jagger in its own travel tube, also produces luxurious lather, but it feels a bit small.

My comfort zone with the size of a brush knot, therefore, is between 19 mm. and 24 mm.

At the same time, I consider the knot's density also of extreme importance. None of my brushes, all of which are quality, including a 22 mm. Semogue silvertip, has the astounding density of my new H. L. Thater 22 mm. Nor the softness that is framed in a strong body. My Thater brush paints a luxurious coat of lather on my face with a distinctly soft sheen that none of the others can match.

Were I to choose among brushes, I would point to the Thater as the first in line. What makes this brush, aside from the overall quality, is the soft and full hair framed in a strong body. Not many brushes have such attributes.

So then, to me, the knot is important, yes, but the density and the feel of it stamp my final approval.

Regards,
Obie

after trying a few, I really have settled in at around 20mm. When I started out I went big, but I really didn't like the large brushes... just too much of a mop for me. I made a little travel sized brush, and I was going to sell it, but it's just too perfect for me... it's either a 20 or a 21 (can't remember which), but it's the champion so far.