Thread: Cleaning the brush

Do you clean the brush after every shave. I did this with my first tub of Taylors and used it up fast. I now leave the soap in the brush and I need must less soap to get lather for the next shave.

Is this OK to do?

I have to say that it is not the thing to do.

Having said that I still have and occasionaly use the Ever Ready brush that my father gave me new back in 1969 and I used to leave it in the mug, till the next morning on top of the Williams with all of the lather drying right in it. It is bent over like so many that you find used. Dad's thoery was that the dried soap in the brush would re-constitute when you wet it and started again the next morning. Well he did grow up during the depression.

I would not do that today to any of my brushes. It cannot be any better for them than leaving shampoo on your hair all day and night.

When I got my first badger as a gift I was instructed to be sure to wash it out and stand it up every time I used it. That one still looks great to this day.

Will N.

lol...I was gonna say, try leaving shampoo in your hair and see what you think. I rinse mine and shake it out after every shave..especially since I rotate soaps or creams, you don't want old gunky residue in there for the next shave.

Only when I rotate soaps, every few shaves.

I think, if you like buying new brushes leaving soap in a brush will help you along.

I always "clean" my brush with a real good rinse and careful squeeze to get the soap out. First I "scrape" the excess, leftover lather back into my mug. If your face is clean before shaving, you shouldn't pick up any oils or dirt in the soap. The lather is slightly solidified, a bit "springy" and relathers easier than straight from the soap. I get the same shave from this as from fresh lather off the soap. If I just rinse the lather away, a large puck of Col
Conk might only last 5-6 shaves, not very economical.

Originally Posted by captp

First I "scrape" the excess, leftover lather back into my mug.

A quick tip...you can 'scrape' this excess lather out and apply to your face (with your fingers) for your third pass. This should be nice thick and slick

I don't know, i'm still not convinced. After months of this so far, I see no adverse effect at all to the brush (both brushes I've done this with are badger). I'm leaving soap in the brush, not raw meat, so I'm not worried about just letting it sit in the brush.

What's left behind is a tallowate based soap that has not come close to reaching the base of the bristles, they are still fairly clean and looking anew. If anything, the tallowate base of the soap is probably good for the hair on the brush - it doesn't become rancid.

I only use one brush at a time - I don't want to rotate brushes, and as much money as I've spent on stones in my lifetime, I don't want to get into artisan brushes - the $20-$25 star shaving type of brushes work really well for me and I don't feel like I have to baby them.

The extent of skin cells isn't bad, I'm sure. I only shave straight out of the shower, always one pass with buffing (not lots of razor-exfoliated skin floating around), so the brush only touches the face once. A brush that is thoroughly rinsed will have skin cells left in it also, you'll never get them all.

I think in my circumstances (lazy daily straight razor shaver), this is the ideal solution that I'll only stop doing if something bad happens to the brush that I don't expect. If it hasn't in months, I'm guessing it won't.

(but like a lot of you, my wife is really bothered by it ...which just makes me want to do it more ).

Well, you score points for pissing off the wife anyway...

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-