Thread: Your thoughts on Kent brushes?

I have the BK8. No backbone to speak of, but it works with creams, hard soaps, everything. I have several high-end brushes (Rooney Heritage Emillion, Simpson 2-band silvertips, Plissons, etc). If there was a fire and I had time to grab only one brush, it would be the BK8. Interestingly, it was also cheaper than any of the above-mentioned -- about $80 from a Euro vendor, IIRC.

I have had several Kent Brushes over the years and they are way to floppy for my personal tastes. Other than that, they are definitely a decent brush if you prefer floppy or not much backbone. I never liked them for soaps, but they were adequate for creams.

Have fun,

Lynn

They are definitely very soft brushes with a lot of floppyness. Some of my customers had me take the knots out and transplant it into a new handle and set them at a much shorter loft, making this a usable brush for face lather and using soaps. The good thing is that a Kent knot can betaken out easily from the handle (the handle gets destroyed, though) as the knot is not directly glued into the handle, but sits in a small plastic cup, which is then glued into the handle.

I have a BK2 and love it, I have used it exclusively for about 6 years. When I switched to it from a horsehair that went mildewy on me a long time ago, I initially felt it wasn't stiff enough, but the softness difference was incredible and I got used to the feel.

One nice thing about it is that has not been mentioned is that the red faux leather case it comes in is terrific for travelling. I presume all the Kent models come with this case.

It really all boils down to personal tastes/preferences. I love my Bk12. Were as some guys like a little scratchiness for that face massage/exfoliating sensation, I don't like any 'scritchy' sensation whatsoever. The Kent BK12 has just a very slight scritchiness to it (much less than the Simpsons 2-band I've used) so it ranks as my #2 brush rather than my number one but only missed out on first place by a hair...

As for 'backbone', I'm a face-lathering soap user and have absolutely no problem whatsoever building a quick lather with the Kent or other brushes often referred to as having 'less backbone' than say a Simpsons chubby or a Rooney. Maybe the BK12 differs from the BK4 or BK8 but, while it may not be as stiff as shorter loft brushes, it is nowhere near a soggy, limp wet noodle. All in all I'd say, in most cases, 'backbone' also boils down to nothing more than personal preference...

The Kent may take an extra 3-4 seconds of swirling on the soap puck (whether it be MWF, DR Harris, TGQ, to name just a few) to load compared to, say, the Simpsons 2-band T2 Tulip, but it's a very small price to pay for the extra softness/lesser scritchiness IMHO.

I had a BK8 for about a year and love love loved it.

And for some reason I stopped using and ended up selling it... and have wished for one ever since.

I have a BK12 on the list of next to buy and can't wait until I get one.