Thread: Cleaning the brush

I used to not rinse my brush after shaving, but after a while the hairs started falling out. Now granted it was just a cheap vdh brush and it was probably not completely due to leaving soap in it but it only takes a few extra seconds to rinse it, so I rinse now after every shave. I give them all a good wash maybe once or twice a year.
-dan-

I thought I would pop back in here.

I still don't wash my brush, I actually haven't rinsed it clean, period. My wife still hates that I don't wash it. I still think washing the brush is a waste of time if you're a daily shaver.

What I realized since my last post and after seeing a few other people, is that I face lather and the lather itself only gets within about a half inch of the handle of the brush. I've seen videos where people say to load the brush all the way down to the handle, and I have to wonder why - what are you going to do with the lather that's in that part of the brush? There's no reason for it to be down there intentionally.

The brush I use is a "best" badger brush from star shaving (it was in the neighborhood of $25-$30, and it may release a single hair about once a month. Great brush for the price, still a stink free brush and it still makes great lather every day (I go back and forth between cella and MWF).

Maybe less natural soaps would present some threat, I don't know. I love cella so much I will probably never buy another soap other than cella (once the MWF runs out).

Still shave every single day, perhaps one day since this message I didn't shave because I was traveling and I wasn't happy with the shape my travel straight was in at the time.

Back in the '70s, when I was an ironworker, I'd wear out a pair of Red Wing work boots fairly quickly. I started buying two pair and rotating. Gave the one pair a day to dry out well on the inside. I started getting much more time out of a pair of work boots. I do the same thing with footwear now and certainly with my shaving brushes. I always throughly rinse the brush, shake it out, and hang it in a stand for 24 hours or so. I only have two stands, one for large and the other for small.

After the 24 hours the brush is moved out of the bathroom and into the hallway countertop where it stands on end. Rotating brushes will give them longer life and they feel better on your face. BTW, I bought my first shaving brush at Hoffritz for Cutlery in about 1973. Cost me $80.00 back then so it must have been a good one. Used it every day I shaved for 35 years before I bought another one. Usually lathered in my hand on a bar of Dove soap.

Then I found the shaving forums in 2006 and 20+ brushes later ..... and high end soap instead of the bar of Dove ....I still use that Hoffritz once in awhile but that daily grind for 35 years took a toll. Anyway, a rotation of at least two is a good way to go IMHO. Gives the brush a chance to rest and dry out thoroughly, plus you can get into SBAD and stimulate the economy.

Small world,my first brush was a Hoffritz (on the rgt) bought in the early 70s at williams cutlery,palo alto calif.< 20 bux I think,was used every day for 20+ yrs,is still in perfect condition,take care of them,they should last a lifetime+.

I have 3 brushes I rotate with and I rinse them thoroughly after every shave. When I need to clean them sometimes I just use shampoo but when I was buying gifts for my lady I came across MAC brush cleaner. I got 2 bottles. I soaked one of brushes in that MAC brush cleaner and was amazed at how well it works. Now I generally rinse the brush and once it's dry I'll spray the brush with the cleaner to maintain it and soaking in the MAC cleaner is only needed for deep cleaning. However, the MAC brush cleaner is pretty expensive so that is why only one deep clean is needed then just a little spray across the brush after each use to maintain. I haven't noticed any problems thus far with the badger hairs.

This is just something I tried and thought I would pass on to everyone.